Crushed Daisies
by applesandtea
Summary: When you're given a second chance, are you truly free or is your future already predetermined by your past? Please R&R!
1. Prologue: The Seed

**Prologue: The Seed**

Drowsiness was setting in, making Izumi's head loll forward. The journey had been long and difficult. They did not stop to rest once they arrived at Konoha, but instead, quickly attended to their business. How long had it been since Makoto stepped inside to meet the Hokage? Izumi racked her brain to remember, but her mind responded sluggishly. She stared at the ground in front of her blearily until sleep finally came to call.

It was not long before Izumi heard faint footsteps and immediately, her eyes shot open. They continued in an odd pattern, beating a rhythm on the floor and warily, she glanced around her. An empty street greeted her and the only living thing she was able to see was a fly buzzing lazily around the street light. She cautiously stood up, her shoulders tensed as she darted her eyes around nervously. Quietly, she treaded across the cracked ground to the source of the noise before a raucous cry exploded in her ears. She clasped a hand over her mouth to keep a scream from spilling out, her heart hammering wildly against her chest. Someone was around the corner from her.

Holding her breath and clenching her fists to stop shaking, Izumi peeked from behind the wall to see a golden haired boy stand in the middle of the street. He raised his head upward toward the night sky, his face basking in the pale light of the stars twinkling brightly above. She watched as he twirled around, his feet slapping against the ground as he whirled faster and faster, his arms raised as if to embrace the sky before he tripped and fell down. She watched curiously as he stayed still. Was he injured?

As if in response to her thoughts, the boy began to laugh as he folded his hands together behind his head. Izumi's eyebrows lifted at the sound. His laugh was carefree and full of joy, and she found herself unable to tear her eyes away from him as if she were drawn to his innocent laughter.

She stared at his face scrunching together as he smiled happily at the sky above him, a hesitant smile forming on her own face. It would be nice if this golden-haired boy became her friend. She took a small step forward, but suddenly stopped, unable to approach him.

What would she say to him? She stared at her palms as she trembled in nervousness. What do most people say when they meet someone new? Izumi did not know. She should probably start with a greeting. Hello…but she didn't know what to say after that. "Oh, I'll make it up as I go along!" she thought, exasperated.

Sucking in all the courage she had in her body, Izumi made another step forward. She opened her mouth to speak, her lips forming a small O.

"Izumi!" someone yelled from nearby. Both Izumi and the boy jumped. She whirled around, nearly bumping into someone's chest. He caught her in his strong arms. "Izumi, where were you?! I was looking all over for you when I realized you were gone. Don't worry me like that. What were you doing?! Don't you know how late it is? Don't wander around especially when it's your first time here."

Izumi's eyes were bright, and as her older brother saw this, his words trailed off, his eyebrows darting upwards in surprise. She looked strangely enthusiastic, a change from her usual calmness. "Makoto-niichan, I…I met someone! He's over…"

But her words trailed off as she turned around and the empty street greeted her once more.

The boy was gone.


	2. Chapter 1: Mikazuki Izumi

**Chapter 1**

"Do you want me to stay with you, Izu-chan?" Makoto asked quietly. "I still have a bit of time before I have to go home. I can stay if you want."

Izumi remained quiet, staring at her shoes. She wanted to shout out yes, but at the same time, she wanted him to go away. She shook her head in confusion, her dark hair falling into her eyes.

Makoto's lips tugged down into a frown. He remained silent for several seconds before speaking slowly, pausing here and then as if he were choosing his words carefully. "Look, this is just going to be a piece of advice, but go in there by yourself."

Her head shot upwards as she gave him a confused look. "What?"

"I can't be with you forever, you know. And you said it yourself…that this is a new beginning for you. This is your beginning, not mine." Makoto gave her a gentle smile as he reached over to tousle the long, black hair of his younger sister. "Go in there, Izu-chan. Make me proud."

Before she could protest, Makoto opened the door and pushed her into the Hokage's office. She wheeled around, startled. "Nii-chan!" Her eyes were wide with fright. "Wait-"

Makoto laughed, his orange eyes sparkling. "Byebye." He quickly shut the door before she could continue, but as he did so, his laughter evaporated into the air. "Good luck, Izumi. Stay strong for me," he whispered. With one long glance at the closed door behind him, Makoto turned and walked away.

On the opposite side of the door, Izumi closed her eyes. Makoto had made such a scene that there was little to no chance that the people occupying this room were now staring at her.

"I…I'm sorry," she stuttered, a blush crawling up her face.

"There's no need to apologize. Your team isn't here yet," a kind voice replied. Izumi opened her eyes in surprise. An old man peered at her from behind a desk. "Your name is Izumi, is it not?"

"Yes, sir." She nervously played with her fingertips as she averted her glance to the ground.

"Izumi, you want to be a kunoichi, correct?" the Hokage asked quietly.

"Yes, sir."

"Why?" The question caught Izumi off guard. "You are part of the Mikazuki clan. You lead a comfortable life. From my perspective, there is nothing to gain from becoming a kunoichi for you. It is a hard path to take, and most likely, you will see and experience terrible things. Why do you want to become a ninja? For adventure? For something different from your everyday life? Why?"

Izumi's eyebrows knit together. "I know that it is a hard path. With all due respect, Hokage-sama, I've thought about this for a long time."

"You still haven't answered my question, Izumi."

"If…If I may correct you…I am a Mikazuki, but this does not mean I live a privileged life," she responded quietly.

"Because…"

She nodded. "I'm sure that you've heard about my situation from my brother." After seeing the confirmation in the Hokage's eyes, her voice wavered. "I…I am not allowed to become a ninja in my village. I was not allowed to attend the academy. My brother trained me. But even so, I wanted to become a ninja. I think that….that in this way, I can work hard and become someone that the people in my village can accept. This might sound stupid, but…I want to become someone strong to help my village."

"But the people of your village…"

"To be honest, I don't think they like me much," she laughed nervously, twirling a lock of hair around her finger. "I don't know why I want to do this…I don't really understand why I'm trying so hard…" She drifted off, her eyes distant before she focused her attention on the old man. Strength crept into her voice. "But what I do know is that I love my village and I want to help in any way possible," she said fiercely.

"Even if that way means that you become a ninja for Konoha and your loyalties and ties will have to be here with this village as well?"

"Yes. After all, this is my birthplace. I promise I will do my best to protect both Konoha and my village! This is a promise I will never break."

The old man's face broke into a wide smile. "You remind me of another ninja…someone the same age as you."

"Eh?"

"His name is-"

The door opened, banging loudly against the wall. "Uzumaki Naruto! Uzumaki Naruto is finally here!" a boy crowed, eagerly rushing into the office. Izumi's dark blue eyes widened. It was the boy from yesterday!

"Naruto!" A pink-haired girl rushed in after him. "This is the Hokage's office! You can't just barge in like that. Show some respect! You're such an idiot!" she scolded, an indignant blush spreading across her face as she caught the amused gaze of the Hokage. "O-Oh, hello, Hokage-sama…"

"You really shouldn't be going around breaking things, but I guess with the way you carry yourself, it really can't be helped." A raven-haired boy quietly stepped into the office, followed by a man with silver hair.

"Shut up," Naruto snapped. "Don't make me hurt you, Sasuke! I can snap you in one piece."

"That'd never happen, idiot."

"Hey, you two…settle down. We're here because Hokage-sama summoned us so let's listen to what he says, okay?" the man said, not even glancing from the garishly bright orange book he was reading.

"Thank you, Kakashi. Naruto, you-"

"Hey!" Naruto thrust his finger in Izumi's direction, ignoring the Hokage. "You! You're that stalker weirdo from last night!"

The pink-haired girl smacked him across the head. "You can't just go around calling people you've just met that! Stop being rude."

"But Sakura-chan…I've already seen her before…" Naruto's lips protruded into a pout as he rubbed his head.

"That's no way to treat your new teammate." The Hokage raised a white, bushy eyebrow at Naruto. He turned to face Izumi. "Stalker…weirdo?"

A silence rang in the air after he spoke. They all stared at the small, slender girl in front of them. Her straight black hair ran smoothly down her back like a stream of dark water, stopping mid-back by a hair tie holding the very end of her hair. Two locks of hair, which ended just below her shoulders, framed the cheeks of her slim face. She blushed with the attention, her cheeks tinged a rosy pink as she averted her dark blue eyes. Izumi subconsciously reached her hand upwards, brushing her bangs across her forehead.

"Ah, you see…I…um…I w-was waiting outside yesterday and I heard s-something weird so I decided to check it out…and I guess he saw me," she stammered an explanation nervously to the Hokage, avoiding all the curious stares. "And…" She swallowed. "I…I took…I walked…" She scratched at her neck. "I went towards him because I thought…I thought he'd be nice to know..." The silence was unbearable and felt heavy in the air. Izumi wished someone would speak.

"Oh…" Izumi detected a change in Naruto's tone. His face was soft now, his eyebrows creased. "That was it?"

She nodded, not trusting herself to speak. The silence continued, and she stared at her intertwined hands. "I messed up…" she thought to herself miserably. "Was I supposed to say something else?"

A warm hand reached out to take one of hers, gently releasing it from her other hand. Naruto stared at Izumi, and when she looked up, she saw her confused reflection in his clear, blue eyes. "Nice to meet you, I'm Naruto. Uzumaki Naruto. What's your name?"

"I'm Mikazuki Izumi…" she told him softly.

His grip grew firmer as he broke out into a toothy grin. "Well, it's always nice to make a new friend…eh, Izumi?"

"F-Friend?" she asked, caught off guard.

"Yup, you're now my friend and you won't regret it! I'm going to be the Hokage so consider yourself lucky!" Naruto let out a carefree laugh.

"You're…oh…" Izumi's face brightened considerably, her eyes shining with happiness. "Thank you!"

"You're the first person to ever react that way…and no one ever said thanks!" Naruto laughed again. "You're kind of weird, you know that? But that's okay…I like you." He cocked his head to the side, squinting as if measuring her up. "Yup, you're definitely nice."

Izumi let out a surprised laugh. "You're weird too, you know. But it's okay because we're friends, right?" The Hokage's ears picked up on a subtle note that Izumi was unsure. His eyes narrowed slightly. It was more than likely that Naruto was her first friend.

"Naruto," he spoke up. The whiskered boy shot him a surprised glance. "Be a good friend to this girl."

Although slightly confused, Naruto nodded. "Yeah, yeah…sure, I'll do that, old geezer. Gosh, you're getting slow in your old age…you're saying stuff that's obvious." He rolled his eyes.

"Naruto!" a sharp voice piped up. It was the pink-haired girl. "Sorry, Hokage-sama…" After apologizing, she walked to Izumi, extending a hand to her. Izumi took it in hers. Her green eyes were warm and friendly. "Hi Izumi, I'm Haruno Sakura. That knucklehead is Naruto…he's not really important…"

"Sakura-chan, what are you saying?" Naruto complained. "I'm basically the backbone of the team and you know it."

Sakura ignored him as she continued speaking. Her emerald eyes shifted to her right, and Izumi caught a hint of a blush on Sakura's face. "And that's…um…that's Uchiha Sasuke…well, I call him Sasuke-kun! He's really cool…" Sakura's eyes lost focus and she was only brought back to reality by Naruto coughing. "Oh, and that's our lame teacher, Kakashi-sensei…" she finished unenthusiastically.

"How am I lame?" Kakashi questioned his student.

"You're always late, you always make excuses, and you always read that perverted book," Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke said in unison.

"It's really nice to hear my students say such positive things about me," Kakashi replied.

"If you really want to know, it's because of him that we were almost late…he showed up an hour later than we did," Sakura grumbled.

Sensing that the students were going to begin complaining, the Hokage spoke quickly. "Well, you may not have seen Izumi before…"

Sasuke's dark eyes narrowed. "That's true. I've never seen her at the academy, but she's still qualified to be a genin?"

"Yes…well, Izumi here isn't from our village." The Hokage placed his hand on her thin shoulder. "Well, it's a little bit confusing, but she's lived most of her life outside of Konoha."

"Bah, what are you saying, old man?" Naruto asked, scratching his head in confusion. "Stop talking in riddles."

"Izumi is from the Hidden Village of the Dark Moon. It's a relatively small village…and doesn't have as long of a history compared to one like Konoha so this might be the first time you've heard of it."

"But if she's from that village, how can she be a ninja in Konoha? Shouldn't she be one there?" Sakura asked.

Izumi's shoulders tensed up, and the Hokage patted her once reassuringly. "Izumi was born here in Konoha and technically, she is a citizen here…however, her entire family resides in the Village of the Dark Moon and that's where she grew up so…"

"So it's like a dual citizenship almost?" Sakura questioned. "That doesn't sound like it happens too often." She gazed curiously at Izumi.

"Yes. It happens, but you don't hear about it because it doesn't happen too frequently and when it does, it really isn't a big deal…but what this means for Izumi is that she could select to be a ninja in her village or in Konoha…and she chose Konoha."

"But why Konoha over your own village?" asked Sakura.

"Because…" Izumi fumbled for words. She could not exactly explain her situation to Sakura. "Because our village…our ninja system hasn't been around as long as Konoha's has so I thought there were more opportunities here and so…I chose Konoha." She avoided Sakura's gaze.

"Well, that being said, Izumi is now your new teammate so I hope you treat her as one," the Hokage said sternly. "Ah, isn't it almost lunch time?" he suddenly inquired.

Naruto's eyebrows shot upwards. "Ah! You're right!" he exclaimed. "Oh, no wonder my stomach's been growling…" His face scrunched up in a grimace. "Kakashi-sensei, let's go...Sakura-chan, Izumi, Sasuke…come on, I'll race you to Ichiraku!"

Naruto dashed forward while the rest stuck to walking at a normal pace. The Hokage heard Naruto's childish voice from a distance. "Ah, you're so slowwwww."

Kakashi made a move to follow his students before the Hokage called his name. He stood next to Kakashi, deep in thought before he spoke again.

"You understand why I put her on the same team as Naruto and Sasuke, don't you?"

"Hm?" Kakashi slid the book into a pocket.

"You know Izumi's history. I told you everything her brother told me. Kakashi, you're the only one who can handle them so that's why I put them under your care. You're doing a fine job with them…"

The Hokage paused, a gentle smile gracing his aged face. "Do me a favor…do that for Izumi too, will you? I think it'll help her in ways more than one to be a Konoha ninja….especially since…" He laughed.

"Especially since?" Kakashi repeated.

"Especially since she's with such interesting people…" His eyes twinkled as he heard a distant slap and a howl from Naruto. "Team 7's quite the interesting group, isn't it?"


	3. Chapter 2: The First Bonds

**Chapter 2**

"Kakashi-sensei, why are you so slow? I'm starving here," Naruto complained once the jounin appeared. "We were waiting for a million hours!"

"More like fifteen minutes..." Sasuke muttered.

Kakashi raised a hand in apology. "The Hokage just wanted to talk to me about something before I left."

Naruto rolled his eyes as he dismissed it. "Yeah, yeah, okay. You just like seeing me suffer, don't you?" His eyebrows creased together as he gripped his grumbling stomach tightly. "Oh, I'm so hungry..." He leaned his head against the wooden table as he closed his eyes and pouted.

The way he sulked reminded Izumi of a toddler, and with this realization, her lips curved upwards as she laughed quietly. Naruto's ears picked up on this sound, and he picked up his head before swiveling around in his seat to face her. "Izumi, what type of ramen is your favorite?" he demanded.

"Naruto...you can't just assume that she likes ramen before asking that," Sakura sighed as she took her seat next to Sasuke.

"W-What?" he spluttered. "But...but this is ramen we're talking about, Sakura-chan! How could someone not like it?!" He seemed utterly appalled at the idea that someone would dislike his favorite meal.

"Eh..." Izumi interrupted. "I never really ate ramen before now that I think of it."

Naruto nearly fell off his chair in shock and Izumi placed a hand on his back to steady him. "How...why...but..." He seemed at a loss for words as he settled for staring at her with his jaw dropped.

"Close your mouth before flies enter, dobe," Sasuke warned as he rapped his chopsticks against Naruto's chin. "What are you staring at her like an idiot for? All she said was that she never ate ramen before."

"Ne," Naruto started off as he regained the ability to speak. Breathing seemed to be quite a task as he stopped before continuing. "Ne, Izumi…that's unbelievable. You have to like ramen. You have to! Once you eat it, you'll never be able to go back. There's no possible way that you're going to hate ramen. You have to eat it."

Sakura scowled. Naruto was unbelievable. Did he really think that everyone had to like ramen just because he did? "Hey baka, don't force her into liking it."

Her grumpy stare at Naruto made Izumi fidget nervously. She held up her hands as she gave a dismayed smile. "Ah, I don't want to start a fight here. It's okay really, Haruno-san. Uzumaki-san didn't mean any harm, I think."

Discomfort was plastered across Sakura's face. "Eh, Izumi, you don't have to be so formal, you know…" She stuck out her tongue. "After all, we're a team, right? How are we supposed to grow together if we don't view each other as equals?"

Sasuke frowned at her words, but remained silent. It was ironic that the weakest member of the team had voiced that opinion with such certainty. Sure, Naruto was unpredictable, stupid, and extremely inept at ninjutsu, but Sakura was on par with Naruto or, in his opinion, on a lower level. He conceded that she was extremely intelligent, but so far, from what he gathered through their training sessions, she only seemed book smart. "Until you get stronger and you shed that superficial, vain outlook of yours…you really shouldn't be going around saying those things, Sakura," Sasuke thought as he rested his chin against his knuckles. This was one of the things that irritated Sasuke about her; it was as if she was more interested in her looks, boys, and love than becoming a strong kunoichi.

Naruto, on the other hand, brightened up considerably and voiced his opinion out loud. "Ah, that's right, Sakura-chan!" He beamed his wide grin at Sakura and then Izumi. "We're your teammates, Izumi. You're part of Team 7 now. There's no need for formality between us!"

"Well, I guess those two have similar mindsets…but to be honest, Sakura and Naruto are both right. There's absolutely no use for formality. It doesn't accomplish anything," Sasuke thought.

"Ah…" Izumi stuttered as if caught off guard by the insistent request, but her dark eyes brightened. "Okay!" Oddly, it felt as if a heavy burden was lifted off the shoulders she had subconsciously hunched together. She sat with her back straight, her shoulders wide and her chest open. "Then Naruto-kun, what's the best ramen here?"

"Eh? All the ramen here's great, Izumi...It's Ichiraku after all."

The shopkeeper and his daughter beamed with pride. "Naruto here is one of our best and most frequent customers. He's just flattering us."

"No, it's true!" Naruto waved around his arms wildly as Izumi ducked to avoid getting hit. "I'm not just saying things! This is the best ramen place ever! Okay well, Izumi, if you want, you can eat the miso pork ramen. I think you'll like that. And I'll have the same too!"

The rest of the team gave their orders and soon, steaming bowls were placed before the group. "Itadakimasu," they all cheerfully said before digging in. Izumi noticed that everyone but Kakashi had food in front of them, but she shrugged and slipped several noodles into her mouth instead of worrying about this fact any further.

The taste of the noodles tantalized Izumi's taste buds and she closed her eyes to savor the taste. When she opened her eyes, she noticed that Naruto peering intensely at her. The ramen held in his chopsticks limply hovered near his open mouth. "I-It's good!" she exclaimed in surprise.

"Told you," he said somewhat smugly, proud that he had converted her into a ramen lover. "There's no way that someone can hate ramen. Such people don't exist and if they do, they're ridiculous and there's something wrong with them. Anyway, how come you never ate ramen before? Do you not have ramen stands in the streets in your village?" He mulled over this possibility as he rubbed his jaw with his thumb and index finger. But there was still instant ramen…what kind of weird girl was Izumi?

"I'm not really sure," she answered hesitantly. She bit her lip in concentration. "Yeah, I'm really not sure."

Sakura sounded puzzled as she joined the conversation. "How are you not sure? I'm pretty sure that even if you haven't been to one, you would still see them out on the streets, right?"

"I'm not really allowed to eat at those stands…"

"Oh, your parents are that kind, huh." Sakura nodded her head.

"What do you mean, Ha-I mean…Sakura?" Izumi sipped the warm soup, tilting the bowl to her mouth. Her eyes did not blink as they remained transfixed on Sakura's face.

"Ah, you know," she shot breezily. "I've seen parents who don't let their kids eat at the stands out on the streets. Some of them don't think ramen's healthy, and others don't trust those kinds of places, you know."

"I guess you can call it that." Izumi shrugged. It wasn't really the case, but she wasn't going to argue.

"Anyway, what's your village like?" Sakura asked, curiosity coloring her tone. "I don't think I know much about it…it sounds vaguely familiar like I read about it somewhere, but I don't remember anything about it."

"It's not as well known or as big as other villages. It's just…it's just there, I guess," Izumi said modestly.

Sasuke glanced at Izumi from the corner of his eye. "What are the shinobi like there? I never heard of any from your village."

"Again, that's because it's small. Our shinobi are relatively unknown because they're small in number and they don't really go around causing a ruckus to get noticed. They just carry out their duties and that's it."

"So the emphasis isn't on the shinobi system?" Sasuke questioned.

"Well, they are an important part of the village, but there are other things we focus on too. I don't know everything in depth though. Sorry, Sasuke-kun."

"Sasuke," he replied simply before he shut his mouth.

Kakashi glanced up for a split second from the page he was on. "That's weird. Sakura can call him Sasuke-kun and he's okay with it, but Izumi can't? Well, seeing that Sakura was in the same class with him, it's more than likely that he grew accustomed to it…but he doesn't want to be called that by everyone he meets from now on, I guess. So Sakura adds –kun for Sasuke, but not for Naruto…and Izumi does the exact opposite. Interesting…I wonder if they've noticed."

"Ah yes, I apologize, Sasuke. Anyway, I know that at least here in Konoha, I know for a fact that I can hone my skills. I feel like I would have been limited if I stayed."

"Well…" Sakura tapped a finger against her lip. "It's great to be away from your parents for the first few couple of days or weeks…or even months, but if you're going to serve Konoha, doesn't that mean you have to stay here? Is your family moving here?"

"No," Izumi replied firmly. They would never think of such a thing. "Their place is with my village. My place is here."

"Then are you going back often or are they visiting often? Traveling so much might be inconvenient though," Sakura said.

"No. The only times they can really come is if they have any business to take care of in Konoha. For me, I will stay in Konoha for most of my time unless I have the time to go visit. It's too inconvenient otherwise."

"But won't you miss them?" Sakura wondered aloud. "Hey, what's your family like?" She did not notice Izumi's grip on her chopsticks tighten so much that her knuckles turned bone white.

"They're…I…I have a father, mother, and three brothers," she said tightly. "I'm the youngest."

"Wow, three older brothers?" Sakura perked up and smiled. "Well, what are they like? Are they nice? Are they annoying?"

Izumi's hands shook, and she leaned the chopsticks against the side of the bowl before clasping her hands together in her lap. She did not answer, but remained quiet and still. Several seconds passed before she spoke. "Well..." Her lips clamped together again, and Naruto noticed that she was clenching them so hard that they were turning white.

But Izumi was saved from responding when a huge yellow blur invaded her line of vision. The long object smacked her across the face before she could respond, and a floral scent struck her nose. "Sasuke-kun!" Izumi heard a feminine voice enthusiastically and affectionately shout.

There was a huge commotion as Sakura shot up from her seat and lunged towards the yellow thing which, by this time, Izumi recognized as a blond ponytail of a girl whose back was currently facing her. Izumi glanced upwards and shrank back in alarm as she saw murderous intent flash in the green eyes of her new teammate, the very ones that were filled with kindness and innocent curiosity a second ago. "Ino…pig…" Sakura started off ominously, her face dark and twisted into a mask of annoyance.

"Sasuke-kun, what a coincidence it is to meet you here!" Ino giggled, unwisely ignoring the greeting of what Izumi thought as the person who would be responsible for this blond girl's death.

"Huh? How is it a coincidence? You just asked about a million people on our way here if they saw Sasuke or any of the Team 7 members," a chubby boy asked, his eyes squinting in confusion. He stuffed several barbeque chips into his mouth while waiting for Ino to answer.

"S-Shut up, Choji! I did no such thing," she spluttered, her face turning a bright red. "As if I would be…"

"That desperate? Eh, Ino…you always do these kinds of things…it's so troublesome," a boy with spiky hair complained as he slipped his hands into his pockets and grimaced.

"Ino pig, is this true?" Sakura asked sweetly, her voice alarmingly contrasted with the terrifying look on her face.

"Both of you shut up!" Ino barked. "Ugh, why did I have to be stuck with the two of you? You guys never support me." She ran her hand through her hair in frustration.

"Eh…" Izumi noticed with trepidation that Sakura was getting frustrated with being ignored by this girl. If this continued, it was more than likely that something bad would happen. "Eh, excuse me…"

Both girls ignored her. She tried again. "Pardon…Ino-pig-san?"

Naruto snorted loudly as he guffawed. "Ah, that's rich!" He held his stomach as he threw his head back in laughter. "Ino-pig-san!"

Even Sasuke seemed amused by Izumi as the corner of his mouth turned upwards slightly.

Izumi grew red as the blond girl turned around. Ino seemed to be at a loss for words and she settled for staring dumbly at the strange dark-haired girl in front of her. "I'm sorry," was all Izumi had to offer as she realized she had made a mistake.

"Ino pig, it's getting really annoying. Stop coming here to woo Sasuke-kun. It's not like you'd win anyway. I'm starting to think that you're a stalker," Sakura said, a smirk dancing across her lips.

"I…am…not…a…stalker, billboard forehead," Ino shot back, regaining her ability to speak. "At least I don't make Sasuke-kun suffer every day. It must be terrible staring at something so huge and in-his-face as that forehead of yours. How unfortunate."

"Yeah? Why don't you ask Sasuke-kun if it bothers him? What do you know?" Sakura scoffed, crossing her arms and shifting her weight onto one leg. "What, don't tell me you're Sasuke-kun yourself and you know every one of his thoughts."

"I don't think Sakura's forehead is big," Izumi added in quietly. "And I don't think Sasuke really likes this sort of attention…" She had glanced at Sasuke who had his eyes closed in annoyance.

Ino's blue eyes traveled over to Izumi's face. Curiosity won over her desire to continue bantering with Sakura. Who exactly was this girl who called her Ino-pig-san? She had never seen Izumi before and thought it was peculiar that she seemed to be on friendly terms with Team 7. "Who are you?" she blurted out.

"She's Mikazuki Izumi, our new teammate. She's the same age as us and everything, but she's from another village." Sakura noticed Ino's eyebrows rising upwards the more she talked. "Basically, Izumi has dual citizenship because she was born in Konoha so she chose to come here to become a kunoichi because her village, the Village of the Dark Moon, is small and its ninja system isn't as developed as ours is so she thought she'd have more opportunities here."

Ino's eyes traveled from the top of Izumi's head down to her toes. "Huh," was all she said in reply.

"She's also the person you smacked across the face with your hair when you rushed over to Sasuke-kun," Sakura added, quirking up an eyebrow.

"Oh." Ino's expression completely changed and she bit her lip. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to do that. Izumi, right? I'm Yamanaka Ino. Pleased to meet you."

Izumi took Ino's extended hand shyly. "Same here, Ino-san."

Sakura gave her a sidelong stare. "Ah! I…I meant Ino…it's okay to call you that, right?" she asked quickly. The pink-haired girl nodded in approval.

"Of course! Eh, you must have gotten such a bad impression of me. I'm really not like that," Ino sighed. Her teammates and Sakura merely rolled their eyes. "Ah, and this is Akimichi Choji and Nara Shikamaru, the f…" Choji had stopped munching and seemed keenly interested in Ino's next words. "I mean, the kid eating the chips…and that's the lazy bum."

"I'm not a bum, Ino."

"I noticed that you're not refuting that you're lazy," Ino retorted.

"Whatever." There was a moment of silence broken only by Choji's loud crunching as he chewed.

"Well," Ino dragged out.

Shikamaru just gave her a lazy look in response, not bothering to answer.

"Hello?! Introduce yourselves! Goodness! Do I have to tell you guys everything?!" Ino cried, throwing her hands up in the air.

"Ah! So that's what you wanted? Yeah, I should do that, shouldn't I?" Choji's face brightened up and he aimed a kind smile at Izumi before extending his hand. "I'm Choji. Nice to meet you, Izumi."

Izumi couldn't help but return the smile. This boy seemed to be filled with nothing but kindness. "Nice to meet you too." He shook her hand warmly.

She turned to Shikamaru and extended her hand. "It's nice to meet you, Shikamaru-kun."

Ino coughed and spluttered as if she inhaled incorrectly. "You….did you just call him Shikamaru-kun?" she choked.

"Should I have called him Shikamaru-san instead? Or Nara-san?" Izumi asked, puzzled.

"Nonononono. That's way worse." Ino raised her hands. "Just. No."

Shikamaru let out a sigh. "Eh, it's fine."

"Then Shikamaru-kun is fine?"

"You can just call me Shikamaru…but whatever. Do whatever floats your boat," he drawled lazily.

Sakura pulled a face. Izumi was using her honorifics weirdly…she called some of the boys by their first names, and attached suffixes to the names of the others. It was inconsistent, but Sakura conceded that at least this was a step in the right direction away from adding –san to everyone's names. Maybe Izumi was accustomed to being polite.

"Mind if we sit down? I'm really hungry," Choji said as he threw his empty bag away.

"Choji, you just finished eating," Ino said pointedly as she stared at the bag.

"But that was a snack. I didn't have a real meal for the entire day." Choji frowned. "I need to eat, Ino."

"Fine, fine…but I'm not paying," Ino sighed as she gave up. She sat next to Choji. "And it's about lunchtime anyway. We'll try to make Asuma-sensei cough up some money. He owes us from the last time he lost to Shikamaru at shogi."

As they settled in, the large group heard a nearby bark. "Oh look, Shino! It looks like we're the only ones who weren't invited to this big party," a loud voice shouted.

"K-Kiba-kun…" a purple-haired girl tugged on the dog owner's sleeve. "P-Please don't make such a b-big scene…" She blushed as she realized everyone was staring at them and ducked her head to avoid their gazes.

"Who organized this? Was it you, Naruto?" Kiba complained, shoving Naruto who gripped the wooden table to keep himself from falling. "You could've at least invited us, you know." The puppy that tagged along wagged its tail and whined its agreement. "It's okay, Akamaru. Naruto just didn't think as usual."

"I didn't organize anything! Ino, Choji, and Shikamaru just came over by themselves," Naruto responded indignantly.

"Sheesh. Whatever. Anyway, our sensei's eating with some other people so Hinata, Shino, and I are inviting ourselves to this party. No objections." Kiba smiled wolfishly as he plopped down onto a seat.

Conversations began to flow as the newcomers joined the large group at Ichiraku. The exchange of words grew louder and was interspersed with barks of laughter. Izumi stayed quiet until she noticed Akamaru trotting over to her. He was curious about this stranger; he knew everyone's faces here but hers.

As she realized Akamaru was making his way to her, Izumi quickly slid out of her seat and sat down, her face glowing with happiness. He came over and sniffed at the hand she held out before licking it cautiously with his rough tongue. "That tickles," she laughed softly before she stroked his head. Akamaru closed his eyes in response as he came nearer. She held his soft body carefully in her two hands, bringing him to face level. "Hey, boy."

Akamaru barked joyfully in reply and wagged his tail furiously. Kiba broke off his comment as soon as he heard Akamaru's bark, and he watched this interaction between the girl and Akamaru silently. Akamaru craned his neck as if to come closer, and Izumi complied with his wish before letting out a small shout of surprise as he licked her face enthusiastically.

"H-Hey!" she laughed as she hugged him to her chest. Akamaru panted enthusiastically and it was almost as if he was giving her a cheeky grin. Kiba's eyebrows rose as he saw that Akamaru was not resisting this action. "I really like you. What's your name?" Akamaru merely snuggled against her chest, reveling in her warmth.

"His name's Akamaru." Izumi's head shot up in surprise. Kiba lifted himself off the seat and seated himself in front of her.

"It fits him," she said before timidly looking down at Akamaru's head as she realized how close Kiba was.

His lips curled into a smile and she noticed his pronounced canine teeth. "I've never seen you around before. You new?"

Izumi nodded her head shyly and Kiba's grin widened. "Looks like he's taken a liking to you."

Her eyes widened. "You really think so?" she asked him.

"Yeah." He pointed a finger at Akamaru. "Just look at him. He's already getting used to being around you."

Izumi's eyes lit up with happiness. "Ah, that makes me so happy. I love dogs." She hugged Akamaru closer to her chest. "Well, I think I've taken a liking to him too!" He barked enthusiastically at her response, attempting to lick her chin.

Kiba cocked his head as he stared at the scene. The girl in front of him looked almost deliriously happy at his comments. "Hm...well, if he likes someone, I like that person too." He continued to talk as he saw her eyebrows draw together slightly in confusion. "It's just the bond we have. Don't worry about it..." He trailed off, raising his eyebrows to indicate that he still didn't know her name.

"Mikazuki Izumi. Nice to meet you!" She extended out a hand.

He stayed motionless for a while before he leaned over. Izumi's eyes reflected her confusion as she watched him, and he smiled. He hesitated before he placed his hand on her head, ruffling her hair. "Inuzuka Kiba." He grinned as he watched her scrunch up her nose in response.

"Ne, what are you doing, Kiba?! She's not a dog," Naruto called out.

"Hey, I think I would know the difference between a dog and a girl," Kiba shot back.

"Yeah, right. You act the same way around a girl the way you do around that dog of yours," Ino muttered under her breath. Kiba's lips curled in displeasure, but he did not comment.

Akamaru poked his head up in the air, sensing Kiba's annoyance. He squirmed a bit before leaping out of Izumi's arms to trot over to Kiba. "E-Eh," Izumi responded, caught off guard. She had instinctively reached her arms out as if she were trying to retrieve him.

Kiba caught the slight pout on her face before it was erased quickly. "You like Akamaru that much, huh? If you want, you can always come over or something. You can hang out with my sister and see the dogs, you know."

"If that's not too problematic..." Izumi bit her lip.

He rolled his eyes. "You're acting just like Hinata." His purple-haired teammate's shoulders hunched over as she blushed profusely. "Sheesh, if I thought it was going to be troublesome, I wouldn't have asked. Just come over anytime."

"Really? Anytime?" she asked incredulously. "But it won't be inconvenient or anything?"

"No, how many times do I have to say it before you're convinced? What are you, dense or something?" Kiba responded in an exasperated tone. "You're acting as if this is the first time someone's told you to come over their house."

She reddened, mortification plastered across her face. It was, in fact, the first time she was invited to go over someone's house for fun. As she heard Kiba's words, she realized with embarrassment that it must have been very obvious to him. She averted her gaze to her lap as she clasped her hands together.

"No way," she heard him say in disbelief. "Don't tell me that it is...I mean, don't you hang out with your friends?"

By this time, quite a few ears picked up on their conversation. Some of the genin turned their heads to face the two while the only clue that the others heard was the way they were sitting so still like a row of statues, forgetting to take the next bite of their meal. The noodles slipped from Naruto's grasp and plopped back into the bowl, but he took no notice as he froze.

"I..." she replied in a small voice. It was difficult to hear Izumi over the din of the afternoon crowds strolling on the streets. "It's just...I..."

"Wait, if they're your friends, why don't you guys hang out?" Kiba asked, pressing the issue. It was as if he was oblivious to her discomfort. "I mean-"

Sakura noticed Izumi's discomfort at the same time Ino did. She subconsciously stood up from her seat, ready to intervene when Ino interrupted the conversation. "Shut up already," she snapped.

"What?" Kiba's jaw slightly dropped. "What the hell? Since when was I talking to you?"

Akamaru had walked over to Izumi again and she absentmindedly stroked him behind his ears, still staying silent.

"How stupid are you?" Ino looked on, disbelief scrawled across her face.

"What's your problem, Ino? First you interrupt and then you just randomly shout out that I'm stupid?" Kiba stood up this time, taking a step towards Ino, irritation flashing in his eyes. "Do you have a problem with me or something? What-"

"K-Kiba-kun…" Hinata muttered, tugging on Kiba's sleeve gently. "Please stop."

He tried to shake her off, but Hinata's grip was firm.

"Kiba-kun, p-please…" She did not continue speaking, but she nervously stole a glance at Izumi who was playing with Akamaru quietly on the floor. His eyes traveled to see what his teammate was gazing at, and he realized that Izumi did not look up once from the floor even after several painfully long seconds passed.

"Oh," he let out, elongating the word under his breath as he realized what was going on.

"You get it now?" Ino asked, pressing her lips tightly closed for a second. "God, you're so tactless…"

He curled his hands into fists as his face hardened defensively. "I didn't mean to do that, alright? How was I supposed to know that-"

And for the umpteenth time, Kiba was interrupted again, this time by Kakashi.

"Sorry, Kiba." Kiba thought that Kakashi did not look sorry or even remotely interested in what was going on at all, but it was always hard to tell since he always had that same look on his face. "I'm going to have to interrupt this wonderful conversation because my team is supposed to take on a mission after lunch…and I'm done eating as it is."

Sakura's emerald eyes grew larger with disbelief as she gaped at her teacher. "What? When did you…what…how? When?"

"Mm? I don't believe I understood you, Sakura," Kakashi replied complacently to her spluttering.

She was joined by Naruto. He jabbed an accusatory finger in Kakashi's direction. "I didn't even see you order! There's no way…you're just lying…" He stopped speaking as he settled on glaring suspiciously at his teacher.

"What dobe and Sakura mean is that we didn't see you even order anything to eat so they're just surprised that you were able to eat without us noticing. That's all. Nothing special." Sasuke set down his chopsticks as his empty bowl was taken away. "So what's the mission?" he inquired calmly.

"Psst, teme," Naruto whispered loudly. "Don't pretend you weren't curious to see Kakashi-sensei's face too. You're sorely disappointed that we missed seeing it for the millionth time again."

"Don't lump me in with you," Sasuke answered coolly.

"Oh, shut up and stop thinking you're so cool," Naruto shot back, annoyed. "Who's the one who accompanied us when-"

"I think Kakashi-sensei wants to tell us what the mission is," Sakura said loudly, seeing the tell-tale expression of annoyance cross Sasuke's face. She didn't want this to escalate into useless bickering…and she did not want Kakashi to know that they had tried to trick him into showing his face to them again last Tuesday.

"Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura, and Izumi, follow me. I paid for our meals for today to celebrate our meeting with the newest addition to our team so don't worry about anything." Kakashi started to walk, not bothering to glance behind him to see if they were following.

"Ah, this is awesome!" Naruto crowed, pumping a fist in the air. "Free ramen is always the best!" He ran after his teacher, excitement shining in his azure eyes.

Sasuke followed at a leisurely place and Sakura jogged to catch up. She swiveled around to see Izumi standing up. "Izumi, hurry!" she called out.

"Okay!" she answered back and she jogged to follow her group when she heard someone call her name.

"Izumi!" someone called out.

She turned her head back to face the person. Kiba scratched his head and gave her a sheepish grin. "The offer's still up. Come over any time, alright?" he said awkwardly.

She knew that this was his way of saying an apology and she smiled, her eyes curving slightly. "Okay, I will!" she laughed. She lifted her arm in the air to wave at him before running to catch up with the rest of her group.

* * *

It had only been an hour since they had eaten and Naruto was already complaining. Team 7 sat in a row along a rooftop. "What kind of mission is this? It's so boring…I didn't even get to finish my ramen. The only reason why I even bothered coming along was because Kakashi-sensei made it sound like it would be interesting."

"He only said that we had a mission to do, Naruto-kun…" Izumi pointed out as they swung their legs. She hit her heels against the edge of the building, tapping out a rhythm.

"Izumi's right. He never said anything about fun or interesting." Sakura leaned back on her arms, staring at the cloudless sky above her listlessly. "But I have to say that this is kind of boring…"

"Yeah!" Naruto jumped up and Izumi nervously noted how close he was to the edge of the building. "I'm glad that Sakura-chan sees it the same way as me!" His voice carried out and a few birds took off, chastising him with their startled cries.

"I didn't say that I was agreeing with you," Sakura muttered crossly.

"Ah well…" Naruto replied sheepishly. "How many of these missions do we have to go on until we have a real one? It's so boring. Anyone can fulfill these missions, even people who aren't even shinobi."

"Baka." Sakura sighed. "Every shinobi and kunoichi before us went through the same things as us…we're not skilled enough to take on any missions that are more difficult than this. Genin are supposed to focus more on training and fulfilling the mundane tasks that the Hokage gives to us. There are hundreds of mission requests given in every day; it's not like the chuunin and jounin-level shinobi are going to take on something so easy. They're busy."

Naruto opened his mouth to complain again, but Sasuke cut him off. "Think of it this way. It makes us get stronger because although it's menial work, sometimes it involves a lot of physical activity. Other times, it requires us to work on our patience…something you're clearly lacking." He smirked.

"If you say it like that…it makes sense, I guess," Naruto replied, disgruntled. He sat down again, sighing as he glumly propped his head up with his arms. "How long have we been watching this guy anyway?"

"Only an hour," Izumi replied. Sakura looked at her female teammate gratefully. At least unlike Naruto, Izumi seemed to be patient.

"Izumi, an hour is a long time," he grumbled.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed. An hour wasn't exactly that long, but considering their mission was to watch this person to make sure he arrived at the designated location safely, Sasuke grew increasingly suspicious. Such a simple mission should not have taken so long; the man should have left the building thirty minutes ago and by this time, they should have seen him get to his destination. He blocked out the complaints that continued to issue from Naruto's mouth like a stream of unintelligible words to his ears and concentrated on the building.

"I'm just saying that it wouldn't kill Kakashi-sensei to give us better-" A movement caught Sasuke's eye. Their target was dashing away from the building, holding something bulky in his hands as he was chased by a morbidly obese woman. What was that man doing? Sasuke's eyes narrowed as he stood up suddenly.

"Naruto. Sakura. Izumi."

Sakura stopped speaking as she craned her head to look up at him, shielding her eyes from the glaring sun. "Sasuke-kun? What's wrong?"

Sasuke was looking away from them, glaring at something at a distance. Izumi followed his stare and immediately noticed what he had seen. "Eh, that man…what's he doing?"

"He's a thief by the looks of it." He watched the man's movements, tracing his trail with his dark eyes. "And he doesn't seem like a petty thief…it looks like he has at least some experience. We have to catch him."

"So what's our plan?" Sakura piped up.

"Just split up. It'll be easier to catch him that way instead of us all going after him together at once. We can corner him." He tossed the walkie-talkies that they thought they would not use to them. "Use these to keep in contact."

"So how are we going to split up, Sasuke-kun? Should we come from all directions and trap him?" Sakura inquired as she caught the walkie-talkie.

The raven-haired boy stayed quiet, mulling over the strategies that they could use. "I think the quickest way to get this over with is to split into teams. It'll be easier to use your suggestion, Sakura, but since we don't know anything about this thief, it's better to use precautions. We should split into two teams," he said carefully after a few seconds of considering the options available.

He hesitated. How should he split this up? Last time, Naruto nearly sabotaged the mission with his impulsiveness and he wasn't sure if this was the right time to bet on whether Naruto would follow his directions or not. This was a mission requiring stealth and as Naruto was clumsy and loud, he would surely make a mistake. That left Sakura and Izumi…he knew Sakura was quick and would execute his directions without a mistake, but there was also the fact that she would probably drag him down with her lack of skills and she got easily overwhelmed in certain situations. The only person left then was Izumi.

Sasuke furrowed his eyebrows. He knew absolutely nothing about Izumi; the only things he could deduce from the few hours that he knew her was that she was most likely not going to be loud and irrational. Stealthily creeping up to the target would not be a problem then if this were true, but it was difficult to say what level her skills were at. "Ugh, there's no time. I'll have to take my chances," he thought, annoyed.

"Okay, Naruto…Sakura, you guys can go together and I'll go with Izumi. Start off from the street diagonal to where he is and try to keep quiet. Get as close as you can and try to capture him. There's a chance that you might not be able to do that. In any case, chase him towards the direction that we're coming from. My strategy will be the same as yours. If we both fail to capture him which is unlikely, we'll trap him from both ends and deal with him then. You got it?"

Sasuke knew that the chances of Naruto and Sakura succeeding were abysmally small. Their weaknesses might feed off each other's which he hoped would not happen. However, the chance that his team would capture the man was higher and this was the best shot they had. He gave a nod to the other team before sparing a glance at Izumi. "Follow me," he commanded shortly.

Izumi quickly caught up with him, her light footsteps barely touching the dusty streets. "I'm hoping that you're not as loud as Naruto. Just keep up with me. We probably won't need to use that much energy to capture him. I have confidence in my abilities, but I don't know anything about you." Sasuke gave her a sidelong glance. "I hope you can make yourself useful. If you can't, I'll just rely on you to keep out of the way."

"Got it," Izumi replied firmly. They were only a few streets away from the thief now. "Do you have a more concrete plan?"

"We're probably going to get to him before Naruto and Sakura do. In that case, we can try to implement my plan on a smaller level. We'll split up and corner him, and if he's too much to handle, we'll withdraw and regroup." He pointed out a street branching off to the right. "I'm going here. If you need me, just use the walkie-talkie and I'll come." He nodded his head at her before he began to walk away.

Izumi's hand fumbled around before pulling out a kunai. She gripped it and walked briskly to the street branching to the left. It was an open, empty street, which was to her disadvantage; she surveyed her surroundings with a grimace as she discovered very few hiding spots. It would be difficult to get to the man before he even spotted her. She gripped her kunai even tighter. "But the entire team is counting on me; I can't let them down. I can't be the one who costs us the mission by making a mistake," she thought to herself, emboldened. "I can't let them down."

She hid behind a pole, sighing as she did so. "I'll have to make the best of my situation. This seems to be the only hiding spot that can possibly work." Izumi leaned against the pole, twirling the kunai in her hand as she waited for the thief to walk her way.

A few minutes later, she heard the telltale signs of another presence as she heard heavy footsteps lumbering towards her general direction. Her ears picked up the sound and she waited to see if he would walk down her street or Sasuke's. After a moment of deliberation, the thief continued to walk, his footsteps growing louder with each step.

"You can come out of there, kiddo," she heard a man's voice call out.

Izumi jumped and quickly scanned her hiding spot. There was no way she was visible from this angle and from what she had seen, he was not a shinobi. She ignored the drawling voice.

"I ain't a ninja, but I ain't stupid either," he laughed coarsely. "I know you're hiding behind that pole, little kid."

Izumi's eyebrows shot up with surprise. If he already knew she was here, she would have to think of an alternative plan quickly. She scanned the surroundings, but at first glance, saw nothing of use to her. Her eyes traveled downwards and she saw several pebbles at her feet. "This will have to do for now," she thought grimly as she picked a smooth one up.

She threw the pebble, aiming at his general direction before she shot off to another direction. With any luck, his attention would be momentarily distracted by the flying rock. She had to rely on her speed to get her to another place unnoticed.

"What a simple, cheap trick," the bearded man said lazily. "It's not that hard for me to sense your chakra, silly girl and I got a good nose on me. I can smell you quite easily from this distance."

Izumi struggled to ignore his words. "He's just trying to make me nervous," she thought as she scurried up several barrels onto a balcony. "Keep your nerves in check and focus, Izumi," she told herself.

Suddenly, she felt a presence looming over her from behind and her shoulders tensed with unease. The man looked like he would be slow, but she underestimated him. In a flash, he was behind her. "What an insolent brat. Didn't you hear me, little girlie? There's no way to hide from me."

She spun around to see a leering face only a few inches away from hers. "Ah, you're a young'un. What's that?" He pointed to her kunai and let out a bark of laughter. "Are you playing ninja? You think that's going to stop me?"

Izumi flung her kunai at him, but he caught it easily before grabbing her arm tightly. "Oh come on, I've dealt with urchins who are stronger than you." His grip made the skin around her wrist turn splotchy before fading into a ghastly white.

She winced and as she reached out for another kunai with her other hand, he dug his dirt-caked, yellow fingernails into her arm, making her bite her lower lip to keep from shouting. He walked towards her, making her stumble backwards as they moved together in a strange tango towards the same direction.

Her back slammed into a brick wall and Izumi looked up helplessly. "You're a pretty one, aren't you?" he leered, stroking a craggy finger against her smooth cheek.

He reeked of alcohol, sweat, and socks that have not been washed for months, and she wrinkled her nose as the stench hit her. "Please get your hands off me."

He smirked. "Or what? You'll throw a toy knife at me again?"

Izumi knew it was useless to try that method again and she stayed silent. As the thief held both of her wrists with one massive hand, he dug in his pocket with his other hand before withdrawing a dagger. She froze as it came nearer.

"Do something! Move, you idiot!" she told herself desperately. Fear paralyzed her muscles, preventing her from moving. She stood, rooted to the spot as her eyes quickly darted away. He lifted her chin up with the point of his dagger. She trembled as she wracked her brain furiously, trying to think of a strategy, but her mind drew a blank.

"You're too weak to get out of my grasp. I can do anything I want with you now," he said in a dangerously soft tone. "Like this." He applied pressure against her skin and a bead of blood spilled onto the point of the dagger. "Or, I can do this." His hand began to stroke her face before traveling down to her neck.

The last action caused Izumi's eyes to widen in panic. "Get out!" her mind screamed at her. Her heart beat a furious tattoo against her chest.

"Or, I can-"

"Get owned by Uzumaki Naruto," another voice offered boisterously. "Oy, Sasuke, I thought you'd get here by now. What's Izumi doing by herself?" His eyes narrowed as he read the situation. "You…get the hell away from her."

"I-Izumi!" Sakura called out, alarmed as she caught up with the two boys.

"You're cornered," Sasuke informed the thief calmly.

The man threw back his shaggy head in laughter. "Today's my lucky day, huh? A bunch of punks going after me. You guys playing superheroes or something? Find something better to do. You're no match for me and I'm not even a shinobi. Stop acting so high and mighty, you snotty kid."

He threw his dagger at Sasuke, who dodged it with ease. Sasuke flung a kunai at the man who stepped easily to the right. "Unbelievable. You're just like the girl I have here. You think something like that will get me?" he asked with an incredulous laugh.

"Yeah, pretty much." Someone had departed from the tree behind them and was now pressing the kunai Sasuke had thrown against the neck of the thief. "Told you that I would own you. Now get away from Izumi."

The last sentence was useless as the man had released Izumi in surprise. "You think something like that will stop me?" he scoffed, recovering from the shock. "Just because a trick throws me off by surprise doesn't mean anything." He stretched his arms backward, aiming to grab a hold of Naruto's jacket.

Naruto stayed still, allowing himself to be caught before catching Izumi's eye. He winked at her. "Now, Izumi."

She looked at him in surprise before understanding the situation. "Roger that," she said grimly. Before the man could even begin to analyze Naruto's cryptic suggestion, Izumi twirled and aimed a roundhouse kick that connected with his head. She heard a crack as his head turned to the right before he collapsed to the ground. The Naruto clone disappeared with a poof, and Sakura immediately rushed over with Naruto, a rope in her hands before she stopped.

"Hah," Sakura let out a breath of surprise. "I think you knocked him out cold. Good job, Izumi!"

Sasuke had walked towards them with his hands in his pockets. His face was unreadable. "I'd like to talk to Izumi for a second." The other two gave each other a look of surprise before moving away. He turned to Izumi, his eyes flashing dangerously. "What was that?"

Izumi stayed silent as she locked eyes with his.

"You couldn't even handle him by yourself by the look of things."

"I…"

He narrowed his eyes. "Never mind that. If you couldn't do that, then you should have called for help at least. If we didn't come in time, something could've happened. You understand that, don't you? Think about it before you rush into things." Without giving her time to respond, Sasuke walked away.

She stared at his retreating back before looking down at her hands. She could still see the marks on her left wrist where the thief's fingernails had dug into her flesh. Sasuke was right. It was stupid how she couldn't handle a thief by herself. No, it was stupid that she froze and was unable to act or think. On top of that, she managed to get herself caught and was too weak to do anything. The corners of her eyes burned with unshed tears of frustration and humiliation.

Izumi heard another poof, but did not raise her head. "Ah, so I see that you took care of things. Sorry, I had to run a few errands…I didn't think that he would end up being a thief," she heard Kakashi apologize.

"Ah, whatever! That's more action we got than all our missions put together," Naruto said cheerfully.

Izumi stayed silent as she ran her slender fingers over the indentations on her wrist. A shadow loomed over her and she looked up, meeting Kakashi's smiling, masked face. "I forgot to give this to you." He held out a forehead protector. The metal surface glinted in the sunlight.

"I'm sorry. I don't think I can take it, Kakashi-sensei," she mumbled. She did not deserve it after putting the mission into jeopardy.

"Hm?"

"Are we allowed to leave since we completed the mission?" she asked, avoiding the question.

"I guess so. I just need to go to the Hokage and give my report on the mission." He was still holding out the forehead protector to her.

Izumi gave him a faint smile before she bowed. "Please give that to me when you find me worthy of wearing one. Not now." She turned to see the others crowding around the unconscious thief and she waved to them. "I think I'll be taking my leave then. I'll see you tomorrow morning, everyone!" Without giving them a chance to reply, Izumi turned around and began walking down the road, her eyes downcast.

* * *

Night had fallen before Izumi knew it and she collapsed on the mattress in front of her. "Ugh," she mumbled into her blanket. After the mission, she went straight to her apartment and threw herself into unpacking, organizing, and cleaning, all of which she did not particularly like. She walked all over town to run errands and pick up furniture and other objects, and helped the workers who came to her house with the bigger pieces move them around in the apartment. Something that would take other people, especially those accustomed to housework, three hours to do took Izumi six as she procrastinated and spent half of her time taking a break, reading, daydreaming, and getting distracted by various activities.

She was mentally drained out. Her mind was numb from all the mundane work she had done during the day which was something she had hoped would happen. She reflected on the day's events and rubbed at her eyes tiredly as disappointment in herself wriggled into her heart again. "Onii-chan, I hate myself. Why am I so stupid?" She sighed before frowning as her brother's smiling face drifted into her mind.

Izumi felt a dull pang in her heart. As she imagined his smiling face, she realized how lonely she felt. There was no other living being in the dark apartment except her. She missed her oldest brother. Izumi gripped her blanket as she swallowed, trying to get rid of the pronounced lump that was growing larger in her throat. The silence enveloped her as she closed her eyes.

"Ah, what the heck, why is the landlord doing this?! I already paid him, sheesh," a loud, male voice shouted irritably as a door slammed outside. The force made her wall shake and Izumi sat up, frowning. She knew that this was the only apartment that she could get and she should make the best of the situation, but she had sincerely hoped that the neighbors would not be raucous disturbances.

She trudged over to the door to open it up and poked her head out to see which neighbor was causing such a ruckus. When she turned her head to the left, a familiar face met her.

"Eh?! Naruto-kun?" she exclaimed as she opened the door wider.

Naruto nearly dropped the envelope that was in his hand. "Izumi?! What are you doing here?" Nobody he knew lived this close to him.

"I live here. Your apartment's next to mine?"

"Yeah! Hey, why don't you come on over?" He grinned as he held open the door. "We can hang out often then! Nobody really comes over so this is cool…Did you eat dinner yet? I didn't."

"No, I just finished moving in," she responded with a tired smile. "What are you planning on eating?"

He pulled a face. "Haven't really thought about it…probably ramen again?"

She frowned. "Ramen again?"

"Yeah, I ate it for lunch remember? And I ate it yesterday….and the day before that…and the day before that too…" he trailed off as he tried to remember the meals he ate for the past week.

"Naruto-kun, that's not healthy! Hold on, I just went shopping at the market. I'll be there in a second!" She ran into her kitchen and flung open the refrigerator door. She scanned the contents and threw several vegetables and assorted items into a pot before she ran out of the apartment, almost slamming into Naruto.

"Sorry," she said breathlessly. "Here, I'll cook tonight and you should go to the market tomorrow. If you don't, then I'm making you go with me because it's not healthy for you to keep eating instant ramen."

"But it's so easy and fast to make." He pouted as he walked into his apartment, with Izumi following. "And I'm not really good at making other stuff. Sorry everything's so messy."

"Naruto-kun, clean your apartment soon…you're going to trip over something and break your neck."

"Want to come over and help me clean then?" Naruto asked cheekily. "It'll be like a personal mission." He noticed her reluctance and laughed loudly. "I'm just kidding!"

"Eh, sorry…I really hate cleaning and I'm not that good at it," Izumi admitted. "But don't you get scolded by your parents?" She set down the pot on the kitchen counter and drew out the ingredients before pausing to look up when she realized Naruto was quiet. "Naruto-kun?"

"I don't have any parents." He gave her a sad smile. "I never knew them and I don't really know what they look like either. I don't have a picture of them or I would show you." He shrugged apologetically. "Well, it's kind of hard taking care of myself at times so I'm kinda not good at housework things."

Izumi set down the last item onto the counter. "I'm sorry," she said sincerely. "If you ever need help, please don't hesitate to ask me…" She realized that it sounded as if she was doing it out of pity. "N-Not because I think you need it or anything!" she added quickly, flustered. "I just mean…since you're my…my friend…I'd like to help you even if it's something simple as coming over and eating dinner together once in a while or something. O-Or even cleaning! I don't think I'll be much help with that, but two people are faster than one, right?"

Naruto looked at her eager face and was reminded of a kid. "Thanks, Izumi-chan." He smiled gently.

She noticed the suffix he added to her name. "Izumi-chan?"

"Yeah," he laughed. "You should feel special! I only use that for Sakura-chan." He turned on the sink water and ran the vegetables under them.

His voice was softer when he said the pink-haired girl's name, and Izumi realized that there was a difference in the way he said her name and Sakura's. "It must be nice for you guys to be so close," she said quietly as she began to heat the leftover rice she found in Naruto's refrigerator.

"Nah, Sakura-chan dislikes me half the time and she has a crush on Sasuke-teme. Actually a lot of girls do." He frowned in puzzlement. "I don't get what they see in him though."

Izumi remembered the words Sasuke had directed to her earlier in the day and concentrated her efforts on boiling the water in the pot. A noticeable silence hung heavily in the air.

"No, don't tell me you like him too! Izumi-chan, you've only known him since morning," he complained. "Don't fall for him. He's just a bore who thinks he's cool."

"Don't worry. I don't like him that way." She took out a knife and began to slice the carrot Naruto handed her. She averted her gaze away from his.

"Then what's wrong?" Naruto asked softly. Izumi nearly cut her finger in half at his response.

"T-There's nothing wrong," she said faintly.

"It's a little obvious that there is something wrong. Izumi-chan, I'm your friend. You can tell me!" He gave her a cute pout as he poked her with the spatula he found somewhere.

"I…I think I made him mad, Naruto-kun."

"Sasuke-teme's always like that. Don't let it get to you," he responded reassuringly. He patted her lightly on the shoulder before he reached over to drop the carrot slices into the boiling water.

"No…I think he was really irritated with me although it's understandable."

"What are you talking about?" His expression instantly grew serious. "Did he say something to you?"

"Well, he knew that I couldn't handle the thief by myself. Naruto-kun, you don't know this, but I wasn't able to do anything and I froze when the thief approached me. I hesitated, but to be honest, I can't pretend that's an excuse. Even if I didn't, I don't think I would've been able to do anything," she ended bitterly. Her long, dark hair hid her face from Naruto's view.

"Eh, anyone would've have done that. It was your first mission and you just need to believe in yourself, Izumi-chan. Or if you can't believe in yourself, trust yourself and believe in the idea that you can get stronger. Without that happening, you can't get stronger, right? Your self-doubt will always hold you back."

Izumi looked up in surprise. Naruto was serious now, and this was not something she had expected from the loud, cheerful boy from earlier whom everyone seemed to think was somewhat of an idiot. "I…I guess so…"

"You have to try your best to do that, okay? Believe in yourself! I believe in you, you know."

"I'll try. But he got mad that I didn't call for help. He said that I should have if I needed to and because I didn't, something could've happened. But it's not that I don't trust him. I just didn't think of it at the time."

"Ne, I think Teme's mad because he wanted you to understand that you can rely on him. You know, Kakashi-sensei's motto is teamwork. We almost failed to become genin because we understand that. We had to pass a test, but we went our separate ways when we could've had a chance to pass if we stuck together. He gave us another chance though. Sakura-chan and Sasuke were forbidden from helping me, but they took that chance of getting caught to help me out and we passed because we finally understood what was important. It might not look like it, but even Teme understands teamwork."

When he saw her nod her head doubtfully, he continued. "It's not like you were incompetent compared to us either. We all worked together. Sakura-chan was the one who thought of making a clone, Sasuke and I collaborated, and you put the finishing touch! So we all contributed and in that way, we were able to complete our mission."

Izumi gave a tight smile. "But that's only because you let me."

"Hey, don't you get it by now? I did it because I believed in you, not because I felt pity. And we trust you just the way you should trust us."

"Why do you trust me?" There was no reason for them to especially when they had just met each other.

Naruto gave her a huge, fox-like smile. "Because Izumi-chan, we're a team, and teammates and friends trust each other. You're a part of Team Seven now!"


	4. Chapter 3: Battling Demons

**A/N: **Hey everyone! I'm sorry I keep editing the chapters and stuff...I've caught quite a few mistakes so I wanted to fix them. Sorry for the inconvenience! Anyway, arghhh this chapter took me forever to write out because I got kind of stuck. I don't have any experience writing action so...-___- the action in this might be terrible/lame! Haha. I hope you guys can bear with me. Hopefully, I'll get better as time goes on.

Also, several readers have been asking me the same question and I want to make it clear that there will be a time jump like there is in the manga. So yeah, you guys won't have to read about 12 year olds falling in love with each other or anything haha...I just needed to start it off the way it did in the manga because I needed to set the foundation for a few things :)

In addition, over the past few weeks, I kept getting notifications that people added this story to their story alerts or to their favorites list...or they added me to their author alert. Thank you so much! I was very surprised since I only have a prologue and two (well, now this is the third one) chapters up, but I guess people are interested in seeing what direction this story takes. I'd like to thank you guys for showing interest in my fic...I'll work very hard to create an interesting story ^^! I hope that you guys can take out the time to review because even though I look over the chapters multiple times, I don't always catch mistakes until later (or I might not ever catch them) and I always want to see what I can work on or what people liked about the chapter because it's very helpful...or even just a few words is very encouraging :)

In any case, if you have any questions or commentary, feel free to review. I **will** answer each and every review :)!

Once again, thank you for everything! Now, let me present you with the third chapter! *dun dun dunnnnn*

-applesandtea

* * *

**Chapter 3**

"Naruto-kun, hurry up!" Izumi called out, cupping a slender hand to her mouth. "We're going to be late if you don't come and eat."

Naruto yelled something indistinguishable before running to the table Izumi was sitting at, laughing as she saw him half-dressed. He unceremoniously shoved an arm into a sleeve while he held his chopsticks in between gritted teeth. "Ishokay, Kakashi-shenshei wohbederyet."

Izumi leaned her head on one arm, amusement playing on her lips. "Naruto-kun, I can't understand what you're saying..."

He removed the chopsticks out of his mouth as he settled down to eat. "I said that it's okay because Kakashi-sensei won't be there yet. He's always late..." His blue eyes brightened as he saw the simple meal in front of him. "Ah, Izumi-chan, this looks so good...Itadakimasu!" With a child-like, enthusiastic grin, Naruto dug into his bowl of rice.

For several minutes, they sat in comfortable silence. Neither felt the need to talk; it was as if the other's company was enough. A few weeks had passed since Izumi's arrival, and almost every day since she moved in, they ate breakfast and dinner together at either of their apartments. It had been difficult to adjust to Konoha at first. She terribly missed her oldest brother, the only person she could say she truly cared for, but eating and spending time with Naruto made the emptiness she felt without Makoto lessen.

Izumi peered down at the old table, her eyes trained on the deep grooves on the surface as she smiled softly. It made her happy whenever they ate together. Mealtimes now were drastically different from the ones she had back in her village, which were joyless, routine events. She wondered if Naruto felt the same way. It must have been lonely to return to an empty apartment every day after training to eat meals by himself in silence. Nothing but darkness would have greeted him on those days he came back to his apartment late at night. There was no one at home to welcome him with a warm meal and to ask him how his day went. But things were different now.

Although Naruto was cheerful and optimistic, Izumi somehow knew deep inside that he felt alone at times. He never showed this in an overt way, but she subconsciously knew that their loneliness was similar although she had no basis for this feeling. However, not once did she feel alone in the past few weeks thanks to Naruto. She could only hope that he felt the same; it was the least she could do for him.

"Naruto-kun..." Izumi started off quietly. She was still staring at the wooden table, her head bent. "Thank you so much for everything."

"Eh? Why are you acting weird all of a sudden?" Naruto questioned. She hesitated before glancing upwards and she let out a laugh. His cheeks were peppered with pieces of sticky, white rice.

"You might want to wipe your face," she said. "You got rice all over yourself." She waited for him to do so before speaking again. "I don't know how to really express this," she said hesitantly.

Naruto scrunched up his face. "Express what? Just spit it out."

"Thank you for taking care of me these past few weeks. Thanks to you, Konoha feels like…I mean…" She grew flustered as she fumbled around for the right words. "It feels like this is my home…that this is where my friends are. It feels like this is where I belong."

"Eh, but I didn't do anything really…" Naruto scratched his head, embarrassed by her words of gratitude.

She smiled softly, her dark eyes averted to the bowl in front of Naruto. "You did. You've done so much for me…things you didn't have to do, but you did anyway. Like eating meals together. I originally thought that you must have done it out of politeness or pity. I was the new girl with no friends in town after all." She looked out the window, deep in thought. "It feels nice…kind of like it should be part of an everyday routine…as if this is how things always have been." She spoke the last few words softly, almost dream-like, as if she was speaking more to herself than to Naruto.

When she realized that Naruto was silent, Izumi jerked back into reality, her eyes focused once more. Her cheeks were stained a pale pink and she fumbled with the napkin in front of her. "A-Ah…" she said, flustered. "I mean…that's just what I feel. O-Of course, I'm…I'm not demanding that we do this every day. Or demanding that this is how things should be. I didn't mean to say that. I mean…" She was growing increasingly embarrassed and the napkin was almost unrecognizable at this point. "I shouldn't intrude…Y-you're being…w-what I mean is…"

"It's fine with me."

"I shouldn't expect anything. I…um…I should stop…I'm sorry!" Izumi blurted out, not knowing what to say.

"Izumi, I just said that it's fine," Naruto replied calmly. "You didn't have to say sorry, you know."

"But what I said…" She didn't want him to take it the wrong way.

"I feel the same way." Midnight blue eyes met sky blue ones. She was afraid of asking what he meant. She was afraid to ask if he was saying what she hoped he was saying. "Don't you feel like this is what meals should be like? I mean, if I had a family…this is what I would wish for."

Izumi's lips felt as though they were glued together. Naruto let out a nervous laugh. "Sorry, sounds kind of stupid, huh? I mean, you already have a family and everything so you already know what it's like and stuff."

"No!" she exclaimed. Naruto, who did not expect such an outburst, jumped and nearly slipped off his chair. "You're my family."

"What?" Naruto answered. Izumi realized what she had just blurted out and chastised herself silently. What was wrong with her today? She kept blurting out things she shouldn't be saying. "Did you just say that I'm your family?" Naruto asked curiously.

There was no way around it. It wasn't as if she could pretend she never said it; she shouted it pretty loudly, after all. "Y-Yes…You're…you're the only family I have other than Makoto." Izumi uttered the last words so quietly that Naruto most likely did not hear her. She studied her fingernails with deep interest, not daring to look up. Her ears were turning bright red. Naruto must definitely think she was out of her mind. She would think so too if she were sitting in his place.

"I don't understand…" Naruto said finally. "Don't you have a family?"

"Yes, but..." Izumi clenched her hands into fists as she stared at her lap. "Maybe it's wrong to say this... and maybe the image I have of a family is unrealistic and idealistic, but I always thought that you were always supposed to feel that you belonged and that you were loved if you were in a family." Her lips twisted up into a bitter smile. "Maybe I've been reading too many novels, huh?"

Naruto hesitated. He did not know what to say; it wasn't as if he had any prior experience. "No..." he said finally. "You're right." His voice resonated with confidence. "I might not have experience, but that's how I feel like with Iruka-sensei. That counts for something, right?"

He walked to the other side of the table before placing a warm, callused hand on her shoulder. Naruto felt her muscles contract underneath his palm as she became rigid. Her breathing came in shallow, but almost inaudible gasps. When she spoke, her words sounded strained and came out in a rush. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have spoken out of line. It wasn't my place to do. Please don't punish-"

"What's wrong, Izumi-chan? Why are you acting like this?" Naruto's soft voice was thick with concern. He moved and tilted his head, trying to catch her gaze. He froze as he saw her dark blue eyes dilated with fright. "What did you mean by punish? What are you saying?"

He removed his hand, and Izumi flinched in response to the sudden movement. Something clicked in Naruto's mind as he finally understood what was happening. "Izumi-chan, snap out of it. Please…I'm not going to hurt you!" His voice was sharp like a shard of glass. As she winced at his loud outburst, he spoke again. "Please believe me…" His words were soft now, almost pleading.

It was as though Izumi was unaccustomed to physical contact. No, he mused, it was more like she was not used to physical contact that did not lead to pain. If someone were to have heard his thoughts at this very moment, he or she would have been surprised to hear the resolute tone of Naruto's inner thoughts. After all, Naruto was known for being a bit dense. But this…this was something that he understood rather well. However, he wasn't completely sure that he was correct.

"Izumi-chan, did you think I was going to hit you?" he asked her, almost dreading her answer.

She turned her head slightly away from him, her gaze averted. She was avoiding his question, but this was all he needed to confirm his thoughts. Nevertheless, Naruto felt a ripple of shock pulse throughout his entire body. Why? Why would she think in such a way? "Why?" he blurted out softly. "I would never hurt you."

"I-It's nothing." She sucked in a deep breath, trying to steady her nerves. "Please…do not continue this conversation."

"Ne, it's something to do with your family…right?" he asked cautiously.

Izumi's face drained of any remaining color, leaving her skin waxy. "W-What?" she asked, disconcerted.

"I don't know what's going on, but this isn't what a family should do to you," he spoke firmly.

Izumi's lips turned upwards as she let out a hollow laugh. "You're right. That's not what they're supposed to do." Her smile was so rigidly placed that it made her look pained. Her gaze was still on her lap. "But this isn't a fairy tale. Things don't always work out the way they should or the way we want them to be."

Naruto remained quiet. He did not want to prod any further into the matter when it was clearly making her extremely uncomfortable. Silence rang in the air before he spoke again. "Izumi, you can trust me. You know that, right? I'll listen to whatever you have to say. Don't think you're burdening me."

_Izu-chan, please…I'll listen to whatever you need to tell me. Don't think you're burdening me._

Makoto's words echoed in her mind. Her heart twisted at those familiar words. "You sound like Makoto-niichan." Her quiet laughter was tinged with wistful sadness.

Naruto placed a hand on her shoulder again, but this time, she did not shy away. He gave her a wide grin. To Izumi, it felt as if that smile alone brightened up the room and her entire world. "Ne, what else would you expect from your nii-chan right here?"

"What?" she laughed incredulously as she looked at the short boy next to her.

"Oh, come off it. Don't you think I'm kinda cool? I'm really big brother-like, aren't I?" he asked in a tone that almost sounded boastful. He placed his hands on his hips before thrusting out his chest as he attempted to look manly and strong.

"Eh, Naruto-kun, what are you doing? You look so silly…"

"Hey!" He thrust an index finger at her face, nearly poking the tip of her nose. "Don't call your brother silly!" A fox-like scowl played across his features as he shouted. "I'm your older brother. You should show me some respect there, Izu-chan!"

His stomach emitted a loud, grumbling groan and Naruto's face grew red. Izumi's smile widened. "Ne, Naruto-kun…you say that you're an older brother, but it seems as though I have to always take care of you," she teased.

"S-Shut up," he said, flustered. "As if I would…I mean…psh…"

She scooped up a bit of rice before shoving the spoon in between his lips, making him nearly choke. "Ow!" he yelped before he succumbed to a fit of coughs. "You…!" He took a hold of the spoon, removing it from his mouth.

"Ne, Naruto…why are you shouting loudly so early in the morning?" A figure entered the room and the two of them glanced at him.

Kakashi walked over to their table now, glancing at a carton of milk lying on the countertop. "You shouldn't leave these things out, Naruto…" His eye caught the black ink printed on the top portion of the carton. Ah, so it seemed that Naruto paid attention to expiration dates now, he mused as he slipped the carton into the refrigerator.

He turned around and as he caught sight of the meal on the table, his eyebrow rose. So maybe this was why Naruto paid attention to expiration dates. No, it was more correct to say that someone else took care of those things for him. A small smile played on his lips. No wonder he couldn't find Izumi in her apartment.

"Kaka-sensei," Naruto called out. "What are you doing here?"

"It might not seem like it, but I do care whether you're dead or not," he deadpanned. "So I have to check up on you once in a while to make sure you're not on the floor dead due to food poisoning."

Before his rambunctious student could react, Kakashi turned to Izumi. "Izumi, I had to check up on you too because Hokage-sama worries about you since you live alone, but it seems like you're doing fine."

"Ah, yes! I'm doing fine. Please tell Hokage-sama not to worry about me. I come over here a lot, or Naruto-kun comes to my apartment. I don't feel lonely at all." She shook her head from side to side vigorously.

Kakashi gave her a long look. Something in Izumi had changed within the past few weeks and as he continued to gaze at her without any emotion, he realized what it was. She looked happier and he knew that it was mostly thanks to the blond ninja next to her. He bent forward slightly as he gave her a kind smile, his eye curving up into a half-moon. "That's good to hear. I think Hokage-sama would be glad to hear that."

He straightened up again. "Well, now that I checked and both of you are breathing, I expect you both to be at the bridge no later than eight. Don't be late, okay?" His eye was still curved.

"Augh!" Naruto yelled, pointing an accusatory finger at his teacher. "Why are you telling us not to be late?! You're the one who's always late, sensei!"

Kakashi's expression did not change. He was still smiling at Naruto as he spoke. "Naruto, if you're late, I think you'll really regret it," he said cheerfully. As Naruto froze like a marble statue, Kakashi took this opportunity to walk away. "Ja ne." With a whirl of wind, he was gone.

"Bah, that Kakashi-sensei…I bet he's going off to read his stupid book and he'll come later than us," Naruto grumbled. "But let's hurry up, Izumi-chan. We don't want to get punished, right?"

* * *

"I told you!" Naruto exclaimed. "I'm right, aren't I, Izumi-chan? I told you he'd be late!" He groaned as he leaned his back against the railing, spreading his arms like a bird across the wooden surface. "We didn't need to rush our way here. I mean, even if we took our time, he'd still be later than us," he complained to the air above him. "We've been waiting here for an hour."

Sakura sighed. "That's not anything new, Naruto. He's always late," she responded listlessly as she peered down at the calmly moving water underneath her. Her bubblegum pink hair was gently tousled by the wind, but she ignored the locks tickling her cheek.

"He mentioned that he had something exciting to tell us," Sasuke spoke in a low voice.

The other Team 7 members perked up as though life entered their previously zombie-like bodies. "You serious, teme?" Naruto sounded excited.

"It's probably just Kakashi-sensei's way of getting us to arrive on time," Izumi spoke up. The effect of her words was immediate. Gloom immediately hung over them like a heavy curtain as energy seeped out of their bodies once again. Sasuke closed his eyes while Sakura and Naruto slumped over the railing. "Eh…I was just saying that as a suggestion," she offered, surprised at the dramatic reaction.

"No, it's probably true, Izumi," Sakura said tonelessly. "I bet it's babysitting the Takamura kids again."

"I'm placing my bet on that fat lady's cat again…she needs to stop traumatizing it. That bastard keeps running away." Naruto scowled. "Well, whatever it is…it's bound to be boring as usual."

All four of them let out a long sigh. When Kakashi finally arrived, he found them in the same positions they were in after Izumi spoke her thoughts aloud. "You four are looking quite happy," he noted, surprised at their bored expressions.

"Kakashi-sensei, please don't tell me we're babysitting the Takamura kids again. They're devils." Sakura held a slender hand over her forehead as if she had an oncoming headache.

"It's not. I have a better mission for you guys." Kakashi waited for the reaction.

As if on cue, Naruto perked up. "What's the mission?!"

"You'll find out soon. Just follow me," Kakashi replied simply. Without another word, he began to walk as his four students trailed behind him. Soon, they found themselves in front of the Hokage and Iruka.

The Hokage peered over his clasped hands at the group before him. "Naruto, I've heard that you've been complaining a lot about your missions," he reprimanded sternly.

"That's because you give us the stupid ones," Naruto replied grouchily. "And I'm not the only one complaining, you old geezer!"

Iruka, who had been sitting next to the Hokage, exploded. "Naruto!" The veins on his tanned forehead were popping. "Don't disrespect Hokage-sama!"

"Iruka-sensei," Naruto whined.

"Don't 'Iruka-sensei' me. Just listen carefully to what Hokage-sama has to say."

The old man merely smiled at the interaction between the two before he spoke again. His eyes traveled to Naruto's quieter counterpart. "I would imagine that you're itching for a more challenging mission as well, Sasuke."

Sasuke remained quiet, but his onyx eyes betrayed the impatience that had steadily been growing in him recently. The Hokage took this as agreement to his statement and continued. "That is why I am giving you a C-rank mission of protecting someone."

Naruto pumped a fist into the air. "Yes! Who is it? Who? Some important noble? The Fire Country lord? Ah, this is so cool!"

Izumi smiled at his reaction. It was good to see that the gloom that had hung over the rest of her teammates earlier had dissipated, and in its stead, excitement was in the air.

An old man stepped into the room, disgruntled at the noise. "You're leaving me in the hands of these brats?" he asked, disbelief knitting his bushy, white eyebrows together.

"Tazuna…" the Hokage started to say before being interrupted.

"Hey, who are you calling brats?!" Naruto asked, offended. "We're awesome ninja. You better believe it!"

Sakura watched in embarrassment as Tazuna rolled his eyes. She felt as if she would melt into a puddle at the floor and she cringed inwardly. "God, he's so annoying," she thought to herself, exasperated and humiliated.

"Not only are they brats, but they're immature too. I don't want that shortie with the loud mouth to protect me!"

Naruto let out a bark of laughter. "Shortie? Who's the shortie?" He continued to smile goofily as he looked to his left and right. The smile began to fade as he realized Tazuna was talking about him, and a look of indignant annoyance flashed across his face. "Take that back or I'll kill you!" He lunged toward the old man who looked on with disinterest.

Kakashi held Naruto by the scruff of his jumpsuit, holding tightly as his student began wriggling around like a multiple-legged insect. The Hokage put up a hand to his tired eyes. "Kakashi, I'll leave this up to you. You may go now." Still holding onto Naruto, Kakashi bowed his head slightly and took his leave.

As they walked outside, Tazuna introduced himself. "I'm Tazuna, an expert bridge builder. I expect you to protect me on my way back to the Wave Country to build a bridge." He paused, bringing a hand up to squint at the scorching sun. "I'll meet you guys at the entrance in two hours if that's fine with you."

Kakashi gave a slight nod. "We'll see you then." After Tazuna walked away, he turned to his team. "Meet me at the entrance then. Bring what you need with you and I'll see you in two hours." He lifted up a hand as farewell before walking down the road away from them.

"Alright!" Naruto grinned widely at Izumi. "Let's get home and start packing!"

* * *

Izumi fiddled with the straps of the sack on her back carefully, adjusting their length as she walked on the dusty street with Naruto. She glanced up now and then to make sure she would not collide into anything on her way to the entrance of Konoha. In the distance, she could make out the outlines of three figures.

"It seems like Sakura and Sasuke beat us to it. But…" Her forehead creased as she looked for another figure and was unable to find one. "Kakashi-sensei isn't there yet."

Naruto snorted. "Typical sensei. He better not be late! This is the mission I've been waiting for." They were near the gate now, and he cupped a hand to his mouth. "Oy! Sakura-chan! I'm here to save you from boredom!"

Sakura's eyebrow twitched in annoyance. "What are you talking about? Who said I was bored?" Quite frankly, she was enjoying the fact that she and Sasuke managed to find time to be together without Naruto. She admitted that they only managed to exchange a few words, but Sasuke was usually quiet and she was sure that if Naruto had not come, the conversation could have gone somewhere. Maybe.

"If you're with Sasuke, then obviously you'd be bored to death. I'd be the same way. All he does is just stand there and look pretty."

"Take back what you just said, dobe," Sasuke warned.

"Which part?" Naruto asked cheekily, an impish smirk adorning his face. "Because all of them are true. You're boring and all you do is stand there and look pretty."

"Take that back," Sasuke snapped, his lip curling in displeasure.

"Wow, can't believe you're offended by it. I guess the great Uchiha doesn't like being called a bore or a pretty boy, huh?" Naruto taunted, bringing his face closer to the pale boy.

"Shut up, dobe," Sasuke said coolly.

"Teme." Sasuke stepped forward.

The two girls on the team gave each other weary looks. "Baka, stop being so annoying." Sakura rapped her fist against Naruto's head before she pulled him back, making him stumble.

"Sasuke, please calm down." Izumi lightly, but firmly touched his shoulder to move him back.

He fanned her hand away. "I'm not mad," he said, miffed as if it was ridiculous of her to say so.

"Oh, please!" Naruto scoffed, dodging a blow from Sakura's fist. "Sakura-chan, I didn't do anything," he whined to the pink-haired girl.

Izumi intervened. "Sasuke just quiet and you're loud, so maybe it just seems like he doesn't do anything. And he's not a pretty boy who stands around doing nothing. Please don't say that about our teammate."

"Bah, stop trying to defend him." He waved a hand dismissively at Izumi's comments. She returned the gesture with a stern look. Blue eyes met blue eyes in a staring contest that was only broken by a bark.

Izumi tore her eyes away from Naruto's to glance behind her, knowing that Naruto would taunt her later and say that she lost the staring contest. "Akamaru?" she called out, surprised. She quickly scanned the crowd for his human companion.

Kiba ran to her, his cheeks flushed with exertion. "Oh, good!" He brightened up. "You're still here and I made it in time. I just finished training, and Hinata, Shino, and I are gonna go eat," he explained. He shoved his hands into the pockets of his hoodie. "Anyway, Izumi, my sister woulda killed me if I didn't come here in time. She wanted to say hi and she says to come over soon."

Sakura looked at him curiously. "How'd you know we were here?"

Kiba grinned, his canines glinting in the sun. He tapped his nose and winked. "Smelled ya."

Sakura bristled. "Are you saying that I stink?!" She had showered right before coming too!

Izumi laughed. "No, Kiba-kun just has a keen sense of smell…it's like a dog's nose," she explained. She turned to Kiba before bending down quickly to scratch Akamaru behind his ears. "Ah, really? She wants me to come over?" she asked eagerly. To be honest, it was very awkward the first time she went to Kiba's house. She knew that he was still feeling sorry for what he had done when she arrived at his house, and the two failed at maintaining a conversation until Hana came home from work.

"Yeah, she really took a liking to you. Said that you were a nice girl and everything. Anyway, tell me when you get back, alright? I want to hear what your mission's about. Hana said that she'll make dinner and stuff…" He twisted his lips into a grimace. "I'll try to convince her to get takeout instead."

Izumi laughed at his expression, bringing a hand to hide her widening smile. "It wasn't that bad last time…"

"It was unrecognizable, Izumi. Sis is an awesome med-nin, but she just sucks at stuff like housework and cooking, you know. She tried to mend my pants once and it wasn't pretty." Kiba brought his hands up to his chest. "Don't tell her I said that. Anyway, I'm going to go now. Sensei wants me back in five minutes."

"Okay, I'll visit soon," Izumi promised.

"Atta girl." Kiba reached over and tousled her hair before Izumi patted it down, scowling at the feral boy. "Aw, lighten up, kid. I'll see ya later, Izumi!"

After Kiba turned to leave, Sakura turned to Izumi. "Huh. You're friendly with Kiba," she remarked as she crossed her arms in front of her chest. "Didn't see that coming."

"He's really nice…and so are his sister and his mom," Izumi responded.

Sasuke raised an eyebrow, but before he could say anything, Kakashi made his entrance. "Sorry, I-"

"You're late!" Naruto cried, cutting Kakashi's speech short.

"Sensei, don't worry. You were only late by a few minutes," Izumi said quickly.

"That doesn't excuse his behavior. This is a mission, Izumi," Naruto retaliated as he pouted.

Kakashi chose to ignore them. "Is everyone ready? Let's go."

They set off, leaving Konoha behind and a rush of excitement filled the four students. Naruto's head flicked back and forth and up and down as he stared at everything with an open mouth. Due to the close proximity to the village, everything still looked familiar. The towering trees were still the same, and the same birds as the ones in the village were chirping. However, this was Naruto's first time out of the village, and he soaked in this new, but strangely familiar environment with enthusiasm.

"Ahhhh!" he yelled out later, spreading his arms as if to hug the sky, causing birds to take flight. Tazuna jumped at the sound before glaring at the blond shinobi.

"Am I really going to be safe with this brat protecting me?" Tazuna pointed at Naruto who had run forward a few feet in front of the group.

"Eh, well…I'm a jounin so there's no need to worry. And anyway, this is a C-rank mission. You won't need extremely skilled ninja to ensure a safe passage to your country," Kakashi placated him. Tazuna merely looked away, a disgruntled expression still set on his face.

They were now far from the village. It had been a few hours since they last heard anything other than the rustle of leaves and the scampering of animals in the forest. The trees were bigger and more imposing here. The group hung close to the trees, trying to avoid the afternoon sun that beat harshly down on the road. It hadn't rained for a while, Kakashi noted. No wonder why it was so dry and warm around this area. He glanced at a puddle nearby before moving forward, not noticing a dark figure rising silently like a spirit from the depths of the shallow puddle they left behind. Without warning, it split into two, and the two shinobi launched themselves at Kakashi, trapping him with their chains as the group wheeled around.

A look of alarm flit across Kakashi's face, the only thing he was able to do before the duo tightened their sharp chains. With one final yank, the metal dug into flesh and in a split second, the body of their sensei flew into different directions, his dismembered limbs spraying a mist of blood into the air. Sakura's mouth was open in a silent scream as her green eyes widened with horror.

"One down," the one on the left announced, glee creeping into his raspy voice. A maniacal glint shone in his eye as he shifted his weight. His companion mirrored his movement.

For a second, none of them moved until both masked shinobi lunged towards Naruto, their mechanical arms whirring ominously in the air. "Two down."

Sakura let out a shrill scream, cut off only when she saw Sasuke dash forward calmly. Naruto remained motionless, fear shadowing his face.

"Naruto-kun! Get out of the way," Izumi yelled fearfully, her hand scrabbling to find a kunai in the pouch on her leg. Her hand was slick with sweat and was trembling, making it difficult for her to grasp it. She willed herself not to look at Kakashi's arm which laid several feet to her right. "Kakashi-sensei…" A lump hardened in her throat as her heart hammered wildly.

Dull thuds were heard and Izumi wrenched her gaze to stare at the scene unfolding before her. Sasuke was successful in stalling the shinobi; their chains were held against the trees nearby with shuriken, and to ensure that they were stuck, Sasuke stuck a kunai to hold the chains in place.

Izumi watched, frozen in place as her mouth remained ajar like Naruto's. Her dark eyes flit back and forth as she watched Sasuke grab a hold of the two shinobi. Before further damage could be inflicted, the two men released their chains and began to move towards the group. Izumi could feel Sakura tense up next to her.

"Sakura, we have to protect Tazuna-san." Izumi edged closer, her right arm brushing against Sakura's.

The blossom-haired girl nodded. "Tazuna-san, please stay back," she ordered as she slid into a defensive stance. Her eyes flickered with uneasiness as she saw the mechanical claw pulled back to attack.

Sasuke glanced at the two girls, his eyebrows rising up in surprise as he saw the enemy approaching them. Without hesitation, he ran, extending his arms out to shield them as he calculated what the best step would be to take. He kept his gaze on the approaching claw before snapping his head up as the claw unexpectedly stopped moving. His cool expression began to melt into one of annoyance. "What a show off…" he thought.

"K-Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura called out, breaking out into a relieved smile. "You used Kawarimi…"

Kakashi gave a nod. "Good job, you three." He turned to Naruto. "I'm sorry I was late and got you injured. Don't do anything rash. There was poison in their claws…and Tazuna-san, I need to speak to you."

"What is it?" the older man asked quietly. He refused to look up at any of them.

"It's a good thing I noticed a puddle on the ground while we were walking before. It's been sunny these past few days so I thought it was suspicious." He gestured to the two ninja he had tied up. "These are Kirigakure shinobi…I could have killed them, but I needed to find out whether they were after you or us."

He did not get a response from Tazuna. Kakashi continued, "If it's you, that means that this is now a more expensive B-rank mission. You must have had your reasons, but this was supposed to be my team's first C-rank mission. We are now operating outside our duties…"

Sakura's face paled. "Kakashi-sensei…that means we should go back, right? We can't handle this," she said nervously. She turned to Naruto who was uncharacteristically silent. Sweat traveled down his whiskered face in rivulets, and he was gritting his teeth to stop panting."Naruto? Hey baka, are you okay?"

Izumi spoke up, her quiet voice ringing with concern. "Kakashi-sensei, we have to get medicine for Naruto-kun." She stepped towards the blonde boy before stopping. She did not know what to do.

"Well…that does complicate things…" Kakashi murmured, stroking his chin absentmindedly.

Naruto bristled at the thought. He could not have the mission jeopardized just because of him. Sparing no further thought, he took out a kunai and stabbed his hand, wincing in pain as blood began to spray. The pain sharpened his mind, and he barely heard Sakura yelling his name over his own loud thoughts.

Why was there always a difference between Sasuke and him? It wasn't as if he didn't train hard enough. He trained hard everyday, even at home when the team's training was done. But deep inside, Naruto knew the answer. He knew that if he kept running away like a coward, it didn't matter if he had all the skill in the world. He would make sure no one found it necessary to save him. He would make sure Sasuke didn't have to save him. There was no way he was going to let Sasuke beat him anymore.

He wheeled around to face the group. "I promise…" he panted, smiling fiercely with determination despite the stinging pain. "I'll protect the old man so let's continue this mission!"

Sakura's eyebrows bunched together. "Naruto…" A hint of rare concern laced her words.

"Eh, that was very cool and it's good that you were trying to release the poison, but…anymore and you'll die from lack of blood. Seriously." Kakashi kept his voice light as he smiled at Naruto.

"W-Wh…" Naruto spluttered out. What had he done?! He was just trying to be cool for once! "No! No, sensei, save me! Shoot, I can't die like this!" He began to ramble as Sakura made her way over.

"Are you stupid?!" she exploded. Her temporary display of concern was gone. "Did you think by doing that you were cool?! Are you some kind of masochist?!" She was waving her arms around, gesticulating with anger. Naruto nervously looked away, afraid of incurring Sakura's wrath.

Kakashi wrapped his student's hand in bandages. "Looks like you'll be fine."

So the brat wasn't hurt too badly. Tazuna sighed inwardly in relief. Still keeping his eyes downcast, he spoke to Kakashi, knowing he had a lot of explaining to do. "I have to talk to you about this…"

* * *

To be honest, Tazuna could have kept the details to himself and just left it at "A man named Gatou is after me," but it would not have been fair. After all, the only reason why that brat was injured was because he was keeping things in the dark. And it was more than likely that this attack would not be the last. The least he could do was tell the whole truth. Thus, he was surprised that Kakashi still agreed to the mission.

They were walking along a path now, and his thoughts traveled back to the man who transported them in his small, rickety boat. "The lives of too many people are at stake…the men I work with, my family, my friends…and now this group of kids. But it's not like I have a choice. There's no way I can just stop building the bridge now…that's our only hope for a better future." He closed his eyes. He could only hope that they would understand what they had just signed up for. A loud scream made him wrench open his eyes. "What?! Another attack so soon?"

The blonde boy straightened up from his stance. "Ah," he tried to say suavely. "There was nothing there."

The vein in Tazuna's forehead throbbed. Or maybe it would be better if this kid did die. If they got attacked, the chances were that it was because this loudmouth attracted attention. "You…what do you think you're doing, you idiot?!"

He watched as the two girls on the team called out to the boy in anger. The pink-haired one began to lecture Naruto, as the pale, raven-haired one did the same, albeit in a more polite way.

"Naruto-kun, please quiet down. It's dangerous…" She knew that Naruto was just trying to make up for what had happened earlier in the day. "And don't throw shuriken around wildly. It might hit someone."

A nearby bush rustled, and Naruto did not heed Izumi's words of caution. "There!" He threw a shuriken.

"Naruto-kun!" Izumi reprimanded sharply as she heard the shuriken hit something.

They walked over to the area, Sakura bickering with Naruto. She swung a fist, aiming at Naruto's head. "I already said stop. Why can't you get it through your thick skull, you baka?!"

"No, no. I swear, Sakura-chan! There was something there. Honest," he pleaded as he dodged. Her fist brushed against his temple.

Reluctantly, they made their way to the trees as Naruto continued to insist on his innocence. "I didn't do it as a joke. I'm not joking! You'll see."

Sakura remained unconvinced until she saw a stunned rabbit at the roots of a tree below the shuriken. "Naruto, what have you done?!" She pointed at the rabbit and Naruto's jaw fell. "Look what you did!"

Izumi bent down, carefully holding the rabbit's body. She could still feel the faint tattoo of a heartbeat against its chest. "Oh…it's okay." Relief washed over her. She removed the shuriken from the tree trunk.

"Ne, ne, Izumi-chan…you're sure, right?" Naruto grabbed the rabbit away from her, putting its face next to his. "I'm so sorry, bunny-chan…I didn't mean it…"

Kakashi's eye narrowed. The color of the rabbit did not correlate with the season. Since it was spring, the coat should have been brown, not white. He cautiously glanced around, noticing nothing out of the ordinary before his ears picked up a soft sound behind him, like a person leaping off from a branch above them. In a second, he realized what would happen. "Everyone, get down!" he barked.

Sasuke and Tazuna ducked as Sakura pushed Naruto onto the ground, shielding her head with her arms. Kakashi tugged on Izumi's thin arm, bringing her down with him as the blade spun over them. Izumi's heart was thudding wildly; if Kakashi was a fraction of a second late, she would have been sliced to pieces by now. If she had been by herself, she would not have survived.

Kakashi looked to his left at the raven-haired girl next to him. "You okay?" he asked softly.

Other than getting her clothes dirty and being visibly shaken, she was fine. "Y-Yes…" Her face was sheet white. "Sensei…thank you." If she was just a second late, however…She shook her head, clearing her mind of such thoughts. It was pointless to keep brooding over something like this.

Kakashi's eye curved up into a smile. "That's good to hear."

They took their gazes upward as the blade embedded itself against the trunk of a tree. The back of a man whose lower face was wrapped in bandages greeted them. He turned around, smirking.

Naruto's eyes lit up. This was his chance! He timed himself, the ball of his right foot pressed against the ground as he prepared to dash forward towards the enemy. He took a step forward before Kakashi's hand flew out in front of him to stop him.

"Let me handle this. This guy is on another level," Kakashi warned sternly. Naruto hesitated. Kakashi had never sounded as serious as he did now. He gave the bandaged man a wary glance.

Was he really that strong? He had thought the other two were already strong enough. He gulped, suddenly feeling out of place. Naruto shifted his gaze to Sasuke's face. "I would have thought Teme would've jumped in by now," he thought. Maybe Sasuke was right for not jumping in.

Kakashi's face pulled into a frown. "Momochi Zabuza…Well, it looks like it'll be tough unless I do this…" He reached for his hitai-ate before he paused. "You four. Surround and protect Tazuna-san. This is the teamwork in this case." He slid the forehead protector upwards. "Do not enter the fight," he ordered tensely.

"Kaka-sensei…what? Your eye…It…" Naruto said, unable to form complete sentences.

Kakashi ignored Naruto as he stared up at the mysterious figure above them. "Fight me."

"The famous Sharingan already? I'm honored," he replied in mock politeness.

Sasuke's shoulders tensed up as his dark eyebrows came together. What was going on? How did Kakashi have the Sharingan? He listened to the spluttering boy next to him, and he gave a brief explanation. "It's the Sharingan…it's one of the few types of eyes in the world that let you read and defeat all types of ninjutsu, taijutsu, and genjutsu."

Zabuza chuckled. "Don't forget that it can copy techniques too once it sees them." His dark brown eyes met Kakashi's mismatched ones. "You know, I had a book with your information in it when I was an ANBU for Kirigakure…are you curious about what it said? It said that you're the man who copied over 1,000 jutsu, Copy Ninja Kakashi."

Silence fell over the four students as they soaked in the information. Naruto, Sakura, and Izumi all looked at the silver-haired jounin before them in amazement. Only Sasuke looked at him with narrowed, suspicious eyes. He did not understand how Kakashi had the Sharingan when it only appeared in a few members of his clan whom were all dead. Unless…Although Sasuke was reluctant to admit it, a seed of hope was planted inside him. He struggled to squash the hope that threatened to grow within him.

"Enough talk. I'm here to kill that old man right there." Zabuza cocked his head toward Tazuna.

The response was immediate. Sakura, Naruto, Sasuke, and Izumi all began to step back, their arms brushing each other as they circled around the old man. They took out weapons, holding them tightly in their fists as they trained their eyes warily on the figure above them.

"Tch, little runts. They'll be an easy kill." The tall, spiky-haired man viewed the spectacle with little interest until his dark eyes slid over to Izumi. They lingered on her face, and Izumi stared back at the ominous figure before her. There was something that made this man seem familiar and she scrutinized his face. She noted that he was lacking eyebrows, and the nagging feeling that she had seen him somewhere flared up inside her. His eyes were fathomlessly deep and expressionless until a glint lit up his eyes.

"If I'm right, I'm a lucky man today." His voice was quiet, but retained its harshness.

"What?" Kakashi asked. Zabuza had just been preparing to jump down when he had stopped. What was he up to? He stared at Zabuza's face warily as he saw a wild grin stretch across his features.

"It looks like Kakashi isn't the only one here of interest…Mikazuki Izumi is here too, unless I'm mistaken."


	5. Chapter 4: A Defective Tool is Useless

**Author's Note**: Ack! I'm so sorry I haven't updated in more than 2 months. I knew how this chapter would start and end, but I didn't know how to get from Point A to Point B; basically, I got writer's block ^^;;. Furthermore, I was extremely busy taking several AP exams and then there was prom, graduation, and an entire month of World Cup matches to watch to deal with. Needless to say, I was very distracted. I know that this isn't a really good excuse, but hopefully, you'll forgive me because I updated? :D I'm still not satisfied with this chapter especially because I'm a noob at writing action, but trying to work on it more will probably do more damage than good and I will just end up bashing my keyboard and throwing my computer screen out the window or something equally as drastic.

I'll just say that even though in my opinion, this chapter isn't that great (I'm so, so sorry), it hopefully will pique your curiosity and well, things will just get more interesting and different from this point on :)!

Anyway, without further ado, here is chapter 4.

* * *

**Chapter 4**

"You _are_ Mikazuki Izumi, aren't you?"

A shiver ran down Izumi's back and without looking, she knew that all eyes were on her. "How do you know my name?" she asked quietly.

Zabuza shook his head in mock disbelief. "And here I was, thinking I'm a hard person to forget."

"I don't know who you are." Her voice was faltering. She felt as though she were uttering a lie; in the back of her mind, she knew that this was not their first encounter. But as to who he was, she remained clueless. "Who…?" Her eyes instinctively met Kakashi's, as though she believed he held the answer.

He felt the stares of all four of his students on him, and he answered their silent question. "Many years ago, in Kirigakure, there was a requirement that needed to be met in order for one to become a shinobi," he began explaining in a roundabout fashion. Kakashi's eyes would not meet those of his students. He did not want to see horror and terror seeping into their eyes as soon as they were enlightened with what he was about to say, and he felt no particular desire to continue with the explanation.

"What do you mean, requirement?" Sakura's voice was high and taut with tension. "Like some sort of graduation exam? What kind of-"

"Oh, nothing special or out of the ordinary," Zabuza cut in, no longer patient enough to wait for Kakashi to continue. His eyes glinted as he shrugged. There was a long, pregnant pause before he continued. "Just…fights to the death between students."

Kakashi saw all four genin and Tazuna flinch in shock. He continued, "As you can imagine, the exam was terrible to endure. Friends who shared meals together and helped each other…friends who shared their dreams with each other had to fight until only one of them remained alive. It was a terrible tradition, but it came to an end ten years ago because of a devil, a boy who wasn't even a shinobi."

"What did he do?" Sakura questioned. "How did he stop it?"

"Without a moment of hesitation, he killed over one hundred students." Kakashi said in a steely voice, finally looking up at their appalled faces.

Zabuza let out a low chuckle. Six pairs of eyes watched him warily as the chuckles began to increase in volume and frequency and his shoulders began to shake. He tossed his head back to let out barks of laughter, his eyes rolling skyward, lunacy grotesquely transforming his face into that of a devil's.

His laughter soon died down, and an uneasy silence suffocated them. His face was still tilted towards the heavens. "That…," he finally commented, his voice dangerously soft, "sure was fun." His dark eyes, the very ones lit by the flames of insanity, snapped downward, meeting the eyes of the genin.

Collectively, Sakura, Sasuke, and Naruto flinched and subconsciously stepped back, bringing their arms to their faces. Izumi was the only one of the group to remain rigidly frozen in place.

That voice…that insane laughter…she heard it all before. She screwed her eyes shut tightly as she wracked her brain to place it. Where had she heard him before? Where had she seen his face?

"Should I help you remember?" He sounded as if he were mulling over something. "Oh yeah, now that I think about it, you weren't alone when I met you, were you?"

She impatiently sifted through her memories, furiously grabbing at every blurry face that came to mind. His identity continued to elude her. _Who is he? Who is he? Who is he?_

"That's right…I remember now."

_Who is he? Who is he? Who is-_

"…Tell your brothers I send my greetings."

He was saying that her brothers were with her. Her brothers…he knew her brothers. Immediately, a voice floated to the surface, popping instantly like a bubble to reveal words from a distant past.

"_Oh, so __this__ is the infamous Izumi-chan I've heard so much of…" _

_Cold, cruel, unsympathetic eyes met her wide, innocent, scared ones as he reached out for her, his hand outstretched. He grabbed her shoulder roughly, moving her from one side to another easily like a rag doll while he examined her as if she were a valuable object he would buy._

Her eyes snapped open, and at once, terror gripped her heart with sharp talons. This was Momochi Zabuza, the devilish shinobi she had met as a young child!

A wide grin stretched across his haunting features as he recognized the spark of recognition flicker in her eyes. "I knew I wasn't that easy to forget."

She was unable to speak as her face became stark white.

"Do you remember what I said back then?"

Of course she did. He wanted her to be his tool, to be part of his arsenal of assorted weapons.

"That's exactly why this situation is turning out to be far better than I had ever hoped. That old man's life isn't the only thing I'll be getting here."

"Stop assuming things." Izumi's face hardened, but she knew those eyes pierced through her façade. He knew she was afraid.

"You're rather valuable. It would be a shame if I were unable to obtain such a wonderful tool."

What would the others make of his words? Izumi's eyes nervously flitted to her left, meeting Naruto's confused ones. Zabuza's followed, and his forehead creased as he looked at the hitai-ate of the blonde shinobi, almost as if for the first time. "The Leaf…? What are you doing, traveling with Konoha shinobi?"

"I'm one of them," she spoke through gritted teeth. She knew he would catch the underlying message. _That means you're not getting me._

"Tsk," he let out, nonchalantly scratching his neck. He was far from being dismayed. "All that means is that you're not with your village anymore. In my mind, that makes you a free agent and that means you're on the market. Funny, considering I always thought you would never be up for sale. Mm…which is better? Killing you or keeping you?"

He took a quick step forward and disappeared into the thick mist as Izumi's face blanched. She could not move. He was not visible, but his mere presence was suffocating. She felt as if she were being slowly crushed. The mist did not hinder him; rather, it was to his advantage that he was shrouded by opaque fog. He was, after all, renowned as an expert in silent killing. She felt as if she would lose her sanity as she waited for the inevitable, fatal stroke to hit her. He would kill her. He would kill all of them. He-

A dark green and silver flash moved in front of Izumi, interrupting her thoughts. Kakashi stood in front of her, arms outstretched. His strong back faced her like an impenetrable wall, and for no reason at all, she felt comforted as she trained her eyes on it. "Izumi, don't worry," he said calmly. "I'll protect all of you even if it kills me."

He turned his head slightly to face hers, a kind smile gracing his features. "I don't let my comrades die."

"Sensei…" She wanted to thank him, but before she could get another word out or smile in return, she felt a presence behind her.

"Seems like Kakashi's too late. It's over."

The words that were whispered to her right ear were heavy with finality and made her blood run cold. She moved to turn around before a hard shove to her back knocked her headfirst to the ground unceremoniously to put her out of danger.

Izumi wiped stray blades of wet grass off her face as she squinted upwards in time to see Zabuza's form melt and a presence loom behind the silver-haired jounin. "Sensei! He's behind you!" she warned just as realized what was occurring. She quickly stepped to her feet again, ignoring the dull ache she had in her right cheek, the side of her face that had collided with the ground first.

He heeded her warning a moment too late, his head turning to glance at Zabuza as the large blade swung. Sakura screamed as, for the second time that day, Kakashi's body was hacked into pieces in front of her. Her scream faltered before regaining its volume and pitch, this time in excitement. "Yes!"

Kakashi was behind Zabuza, holding him as he kept his kunai aimed at Zabuza's jugular. "Give it up."

Zabuza merely cocked his head to the side, unperturbed by the situation he was in. He spoke to Izumi. "Heh, you really thought I would kill you, didn't you? As if I would squander such an opportunity…it would be such a waste if I didn't get you." He returned his attention to Kakashi. "That was pretty impressive, I have to give you that. Making a clone by the time you were trying to reassure this girl who looked like she was ready to wet her pants." He tilted his head towards Izumi, whose cheeks turned an indignant, violent shade of pink.

He smirked, delighted at her reaction, before speaking again. "But…don't mistake me for easy prey." He melted, and the tables were turned as he reappeared, holding his kunai to Kakashi's neck from behind.

Izumi watched as Kakashi aimed to strike a blow against his enemy's solar plexus with his elbow. The bare-chested man leapt back away from harm, and while he was still suspended in the air, swung the heavy blade at Kakashi. She could tell just from the sound the swing made just how powerful Zabuza was. To be able to swing with that much force, to maneuver that ridiculously large sword properly let alone move it a fraction of an inch…she knew that he possessed enormous strength. The blade and the range of jutsu he had were not the only things that were dangerous about this man; he could take down a great number of capable shinobi by relying solely on his physical strength.

She felt Sasuke stir restlessly to her left, and she knew that he had snapped out of the terrified state he was in before when Zabuza had dissipated into the mist. As she saw determination etch a scowl on his face, she realized with alarm that he desperately wanted to help Kakashi. "It's no use right now, Sasuke. They're moving too fast. If you time your entrance wrong, you'll be hit by either of them," she muttered under her breath.

"Don't think I'm stupid. I'm not Naruto. I'm just waiting for the right moment," he lashed back through gritted teeth.

She scowled. "Naruto-kun's not dense. If you haven't noticed, he's not running towards them, waving around a kunai like a fool." She quickly prayed that Naruto would not do what she had just said and prove her wrong. The blonde ninja stayed in place, and she let out an inward sigh of relief. "I'd appreciate it if you stop thinking he's a moron." There was a strained silence. "Please," she added very softly, almost as an afterthought.

"Whatever," he acquiesced begrudgingly. His eyebrows furrowed together as Zabuza lunged forward, but stopped in his tracks as a rain of nails hit the ground. "And anyway, it looks like Kakashi is able to…never mind." He stopped speaking as Kakashi was knocked into the water.

"What's he doing?" Naruto breathed. "He's just staying in the water."

"Don't be stupid," Sakura reprimanded without any conviction. "He's probably just thinking of his next move."

"No. He's not an idiot. No shinobi in his right mind would stay there like a sitting duck waiting to be hit to think of the next move. Something's wrong," Sasuke answered as Sakura looked away, dismayed that he refuted her words. Izumi caught her eye and merely shrugged in response. Sasuke was right, after all.

They watched as the water began to swirl and form a sphere, trapping Kakashi inside. "W-What the hell is that?" Naruto jabbed a finger at the sphere.

"My specialty: an inescapable water prison." Zabuza spared a glance at the captured jounin before speaking once more. "I'll deal with you later. I'll kill them first to make things easier, what do you say?" With one hand, he made the signs as a water clone separated itself from Zabuza's torso. Kakashi futilely attempted to escape, moving around vigorously in response to the verbal jab.

"It's laughable to think that little kids like you think they're shinobi. Wearing hitai-ate doesn't mean shit. If you want to prove yourself as a real shinobi in my book, you have to dance with death. Once you do, then I'll consider you a real one." He closed his eyes in concentration, fading into the white fog as the genin tensed up.

They did not have to wait long to discover his whereabouts; Naruto flew back as a leg connected with his torso. The force detached the loosely bound forehead protector from his head, and it landed under Zabuza's foot with a clang. "Naruto-kun!" Izumi shouted in alarm as Sakura shouted his name simultaneously. Sasuke looked visibly shaken.

"Looks like I was right. You're nothing but a brat." Zabuza tilted his head from side to side, cracking his neck. "It'll take less than a second to take down all of you."

Kakashi muttered a curse under his breath as he heard the hint of happiness in Zabuza's voice. "You guys!" His four students snapped their heads in his direction. "Run away with Tazuna-san!" he shouted, bubbles escaping from his mouth. "You guys don't stand a chance!"

"But Kakashi-sensei," Izumi began to say. She knew that if Kakashi struggled in combat with Zabuza, they would be no match for their opponent…but she also knew it would be wrong to leave.

"Izumi, that's an order," he shot back before she could continue.

How could they leave him when he did his best to protect them? Her mind scolded her, telling her to be rational and obey Kakashi's orders, but she did not move. "So you're telling us to run away like cowards?" She knew that would most likely provoke the ire of her teacher, but she asked it in a quietly demanding tone anyway. Her head was bent; he did not need to see her trembling lip or the fear in her eyes. It took most of her effort to keep her voice steady, calm, and unwavering. Let him think she was foolish; it did not matter, as long as he believed she was full of conviction and strength instead of doubt and weakness.

His face was contorted with frustration, but Izumi did not need to see it to know he was exasperated. "This isn't about being brave or being cowardly. This is about you staying alive! Don't be irrational! Go! All of you, take Tazuna-san and go! This is the best way. As long as he has me in here, he's stuck with me. His clone can't move far away from his real body. He's not stupid enough to risk me escaping to go after you with his real body. Go!" It was so rare to hear Kakashi raise his voice, but he was shouting now. He cared more about them than about his own life.

Sakura reached out to place a hand on Izumi's shoulder. "Izumi…" Her voice was barely above a whisper as she pleaded with the raven-haired girl.

She knew that Kakashi was right; it was the best opportunity for them to escape. She knew that she was weak; there was no chance of winning. But Izumi was not aiming to win. She was aiming to make a small difference, the one move that would send the chain of dominoes falling. She did not care about winning against Zabuza; her objective here was to somehow free Kakashi. It was true that this was the best chance for them to remain alive, but it was also true that this was the best chance to help even if it meant that she would be putting herself in extreme danger. After all, as competent as Zabuza was at combat, he was also severely handicapped and at a disadvantage with that jutsu. They merely had to exploit it. It would all be worth it if it meant that Kakashi's death would be prolonged or, if she played her cards right, be prevented. Risking one's life to save a comrade's was worth it, and she would do so to save his. It was, after all, Kakashi who taught her this.

Izumi was still looking at the ground.

"Are you listening to me?" An edge of desperation seeped into Kakashi's words. "Izumi…"

"Kakashi-sensei, I also…don't let my comrades die." A small smile crept on her face, but it was a sad one, weighed down with what she knew she had to do and what would most likely happen to her. She just needed a distraction, and then she would go in. She had only one chance at this.

Naruto had been watching the tense exchange of words between the two while immersing himself in thought. His memories had filled him with conviction, but it was Izumi standing up to face the enemy, rather than running away that boosted him with the final burst of confidence. "I'm not going to run away either," he declared, rushing towards Zabuza before anyone could react. Izumi's head shot upward in surprise.

"No! Don't!" Kakashi shouted, alarmed.

"What are you thinking, Naruto?" Sakura yelled after him.

Before Izumi could even step forward, Naruto was flung back. Blood was steadily dripping from his mouth, marring the ground with scarlet drops, but he was smiling in triumph.

"Baka! What are you smiling for? What were you thinking, rushing in by yourself? We don't stand a chance. What kind of…y-you're such an idiot!" Sakura was shouting, but it was filled with concern.

Naruto stood up, and a flash of metal was seen in his hand. Sakura's eyebrows creased together. "Your hitai-ate?" He wrapped the forehead protector around his head.

"Hey, eyebrowless freak. Put this in your book, the man who will one day become Konoha's Hokage: Uzumaki Naruto!"

Perhaps it was because he spoke with confidence and conviction rather than with a boastful tone that the group brightened up, rejuvenated and determined, rather than slouched down, embarrassed and annoyed. Without turning back to face his group, Naruto spoke again. "Sasuke? Lend me your ear. I have a plan." He was quiet for a second, reflecting on what happened before he dashed forward at Zabuza a moment ago.

An unrecognizable look lit up Sakura's emerald eyes. Before Izumi could decipher whether it was surprised admiration for Naruto taking charge or a new form of anger, Naruto spoke again. "You too, Izumi-chan. Sakura-chan, you protect Tazuna-san, okay?"

"Heh, teamwork from you?" Sasuke smiled in anticipation, much to Izumi's relief. It seemed to be that Sasuke would be willing to listen to Naruto's plan.

Zabuza looked on, amused. "Do you really think I would let you get together to formulate a plan? Or maybe I should since I highly doubt any plan you come up with will even be slightly effective. It's entertaining, the way you still think you'd be able to make a difference."

Naruto flashed a cocky grin in return. "We don't need to have a group talk about strategy," he said, not noticing the alarm and confusion written on Izumi's face. "They'll understand."

"Understand? Naruto, if you're not going to tell them anything, how will they-" Sakura started to say.

"Ne, ne, Sakura-chan," he interrupted with a pout. "They'll get it, don't be such a worrywart."

Sakura's temple throbbed with annoyance. Was Naruto serious? She ran a hand over her face, struggling to keep a moan from issuing out of her mouth. They would all die today thanks to his stupidity. She could see it now; if any of them survived and was asked how the rest died, that person would write on the report that it was because Naruto apparently believed he suddenly got special powers and could communicate telepathically, but in reality, was just being delusional.

"Hey, Sasuke, you go in first…I'll go after," Naruto said.

The raven-haired boy smirked. "Heh, are you being a chicken again? Or are you more confident in my skills than yours?" he teased before getting ready to dash forward.

"W-What?" Naruto screeched. "No! I just…Fine! I'll go first and…" His words trailed off as Sasuke dashed forward with a kunai in hand at the clone.

Zabuza remained still, an amused smile lingering on his lips. What was the point in putting in any effort when his prey was running towards him, running towards death? All the same, he should not stand stoically like a statue. It would not be fun if he just stayed put. He moved, and in a second, he was inches away from Sasuke's face.

"It was a mistake running straight at me like that," he admonished, slamming a kick at Sasuke's chest.

The boy fell to the ground with a thud, his head smacking against the uneven terrain. His face twisted in pain as blood spurted out of his open mouth.

"Sasuke!" Kakashi sharply called out.

"I think I'll toy with you some more. I have all the time in the world, and I haven't had an opportunity to play around with my targets for a very long time," Zabuza sneered at the boy he held under his leg. He pressed his foot down harder against Sasuke's chest once again, resulting in the boy letting out a sharp cry, before removing it. "This will be fun. Get up."

Sasuke obeyed, rubbing at his chest before spitting out the blood that filled his mouth with a coppery taste. "Don't…" he gasped, "underestimate me." With a sweep of his leg, he attempted to knock Zabuza off balance, meeting with failure as the missing-nin jumped back nimbly.

"If you're going to try such babyish tactics, I'm going to get bored," Zabuza warned. "If this keeps up, I'll just kill you."

Sasuke got to his feet again, clenching the kunai in his closed fist. He moved as if to step forward before hesitating and deciding against it. His back was turned to the group, but they could hear him speak through gritted teeth. "Naruto, you said you have a plan. At least give me an inkling of an idea of what you're going to do." The blonde nin looked surprised as Sasuke asked for help.

Zabuza sneered. "Yes, why don't you enlighten me?" Izumi bit her lip. There was no way to communicate to Sasuke what his plan was; it was not as if they had the option of speaking out loud and if Naruto wished to move closer to Sasuke, Zabuza would easily prevent him from doing so.

"Just continue what you're doing and…we'll improvise on the plan we used last mission," Naruto spoke carefully, making sure to be as vague as possible.

"The one we made before we split or the one we made when we got together again and found Izumi?" Sasuke replied just as cryptically.

"Got together again…You'll get it. I trust you." Sasuke nodded distractedly in response, already formulating tactics to hinder Zabuza and distract him. Would a fireball be enough? But in order to accomplish that, he needed a little bit of time. Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu would hardly be effective against Zabuza, who used water ninjutsu, but grimly, he noted that it was flamboyant and would certainly serve as a distraction. He eyed a nearby tree and silently jumped on the branch, using the mist to shroud him from prying eyes. Zabuza would find him, of course, but hopefully, he could run through the hand seals quickly enough before his whereabouts were discovered. He began to make the hand seals. Horse-Tiger-Ram-Monkey-Boar-

A foot connected to his back, driving him headfirst to the ground before he was able to continue. Instinctively, he turned back, blindly stabbing at the air with his kunai before a large hand clamped his wrist. "You weren't listening to me. I said to keep me entertained, and you didn't. Playtime's over, brat." The ground was looming closer as Zabuza let go.

"Naruto-kun, hurry!" Izumi hissed, worry knotting her eyebrows together.

Naruto cursed under his breath. Not once did the eyes of the real Zabuza leave the group while the clone was battling with Sasuke. It was as if Sasuke was not worth his time and attention. They needed something better, a bigger distraction that would pull the real Zabuza's eyes away from him. A fraction of a second was all he needed.

Sasuke's back radiated with pain as he hit the ground again. He winced as Zabuza grabbed his neck in a vise-like grip, raising him upwards as his feet dangled in the air. "Ugh…" he rasped out, clawing at Zabuza's fingers as the older man peered at him, not noticing the effort. Without speaking, Zabuza threw him in the air, catching him with another kick to the chest before he fell. He was appearing like a blur now, moving so quickly that the others would not have understood what was going on had it not been for Sasuke's yelling.

Shit…shit! They needed a better way or Sasuke would become seriously injured. Naruto wracked his mind for another plan as he helplessly looked on. Izumi made a motion to go forward, and instinctively, his arm reached out in front of her. "No! Just let me think and…"

She shoved his arm aside, but it came back, hitting her clavicle. He was surprised at the amount of force she put into that shove. He moved his hand to hold part of her collar, bunching the fabric tightly in his fist lest she escape. "Naruto-kun, I'm going in, I-"

"No!" he said, his eyes burning fiercely.

"At this rate, Sasuke's going to get really hurt! I'm going to-"

"I said-"

"Naru-"

"Listen to-"

"Naruto-kun, I'm the best option!" she cut in, speaking in a rush before he could interrupt again. "You stay behind, you need to look for that opening. I'll provide it." He was opening his mouth to speak again and she spoke faster. "And besides, I'll be able to stall him."

"How are you so sure?" He narrowed his sapphire eyes. "Don't you see Sasuke out there? What are you planning to do?"

Izumi grimly smiled. "Fortunately, his interest in me will play to my advantage. I'm sure that he wouldn't want to injure me…at least not grievously. I don't mean to sound arrogant…I'm sorry if I end up doing so, but I'm too important to him; he'd want me to be in perfect condition. I mean, what's a defective tool useful for?" She shrugged, avoiding his gaze. She knew that rhetorical question would not sit well with him. "Keep your eyes open, Naruto-kun." With one last shove, she managed to break free.

"Izumi-chan!"

She ran forward, her eyes narrowed as she scanned the scene for an opening in between Zabuza's attacks. If she could just get in between the two, she could help stop him. There was a pause as he kicked Sasuke further away than he had done in the past few minutes, a large enough space appearing between the two. Her eyes widened as she saw him draw out a kunai, aiming a devastating blow at a vital point. She launched herself in front of Sasuke right as Zabuza dashed forward, leaping into the air. That split second of hesitation as he acknowledged her presence would be all it needed to take; she was sure that the real Zabuza would tear his eyes away from the group to look at her. By that time, Naruto would be able to make a clone and disguise it as a weapon for Sasuke to catch and she would keep Zabuza away from Sasuke, blocking his path as much as possible. She waited for him to momentarily freeze and jerk his hand away.

The moment never came. The kunai pierced Izumi's shoulder, slashing it before she was able to jerk her arm away from danger. "Ah!" she hissed in surprise as they all landed on the ground. Sasuke's body was flung behind a bush and he made no movement to get up.

"What a pleasant surprise. I thought the little runt over there was just pretending to include you so you wouldn't feel bad," Zabuza remarked. "For a moment there, I was disappointed…to think that such a valuable tool would want to avoid combat as much as possible. You proved me wrong. Looks like this will be fun."

She glanced at the blood seeping through her wound, which was thankfully not as deep as she thought, before her eyes flitted back to his face. He caught the shadow of confusion in her eyes before it disappeared and his grin widened. "You're wondering why I didn't stop myself," he guessed. "You're wrong if you think you're safe; I don't care if I hurt you. I can always fix you up later as long as you're not dead or fatally injured. And besides…" He was leaning in now, his mouth near her ear. "You'll learn that it's not a good idea to cross your master so it's a good lesson."

He grabbed her by the neck without warning, slamming her into a nearby tree. She had been biting her lip and with the harsh contact, her teeth broke the thin surface. The taste of copper filled her mouth as blood trickled down her chin. She grabbed at his arm, her breath coming in choking, rattling gasps as he looked on with mild amusement. "Get…off…" She attempted to plunge a kunai into his forearm, but he grabbed her small wrist with his free hand.

"Cheeky, aren't you?" He let go of her neck, allowing her to fall to her knees before kicking her in the ribs to slam her onto her side. She scrambled to get up before he stepped on her back. Repeatedly, she tried to get up before he sent her to the ground again. What was Naruto-kun doing? She had given him more than enough time for him to make a clone and disguise it as a weapon. As she hit the ground yet again, she saw Sasuke getting up to his feet out of the corner of her eye, wincing as he felt the bruises that marked his body. Zabuza had not noticed him standing yet.

She twisted around and with as much strength as she could muster, hit the back of Zabuza's knees with her entire arm, making him lose his balance. Raging pain engulfed her arm as she came into contact with his unyielding muscle. She turned around to face Sasuke, and she saw him hesitate. He was deciding whether to stay and help or to go. She got up to her feet, running towards him, knowing by now that Zabuza had seen him and she therefore did not have to be discreet.

"Sasuke, what are you doing? I'm fine!" she shouted. She could see several Narutos rushing forward to them. "Go!" Zabuza's foot connected with her stomach, and she flew backwards, her head slamming against the trunk of a tree. It felt as if she had split open her skull and she cringed as she felt something unpleasantly wet trickle down the back of her head.

Zabuza wheeled around as Naruto and his Kage Bunshins leapt onto him. They attacked him wildly, but he flung them off with little effort. More jumped onto him and wriggled, blocking his vision of Sasuke. Many hit the ground and disappeared in a cloud of smoke before another Naruto was flung off, this time staying intact long enough to rummage through a backpack. "Oy, Sasuke!" he yelled, throwing a shuriken to Sasuke.

Sasuke nodded, showing he understood as he caught the shuriken. "Evil Wind Shuriken Shadow Windmill!" He flung the weapon at the real Zabuza as the replica wheeled around to face Sasuke, the last few Naruto clones disappearing into a cloud of smoke. Naruto, still on the ground, stabbed the ankle of the Zabuza replica which changed back to water.

Zabuza caught the shuriken with ease before his eyes widened in surprise as another shuriken appeared in its shadow. Cursing, he jumped in the air, his hand still in the water prison he was holding Kakashi in. "A shuriken is not going to stop me," he retorted, not noticing that it had transformed into the real Naruto.

"Yeah, well, take this!" Naruto carefully aimed the kunai at Zabuza's head, and the man twisted to escape it as it grazed his cheek, removing blood.

Izumi looked on blearily as Zabuza swung his sword at Naruto. Her vision was growing increasingly blurry and her head throbbed uncomfortably. She smiled wearily as she saw a figure block the sword. Yes! It had worked; Kakashi was free! Zabuza was clearly alarmed now, but he quickly adjusted to the new situation, fury replacing surprise on his face.

"Naruto, great plan. You waited for both Zabuzas to get distracted and changed into a shuriken that one of your clones passed to Sasuke who threw it with a shuriken he already had…but Izumi didn't need to jump in to provide a distraction; you could've covered it by attacking Zabuza with a large number of clones and converted yourself into a shuriken in the midst of all that chaos."

"Heh…" Naruto rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "I thought of that at the very last minute."

"Good job on forcing him to let me escape; I'm relieved you did that instead of trying to take him down."

Zabuza snorted. "I wasn't forced. I just got distracted. I broke my concentration and accidentally let go."

"You're wrong; it wasn't a slip in concentration that led to your jutsu breaking. You were forced to release your jutsu because you had to move in order for you not to get injured…and just to let you know, I don't fall for the same jutsu twice. It'll be more difficult to catch me off guard this time."

Zabuza growled, not answering as he began to make hand seals. The furious expression on his face grew more pronounced as he noticed Kakashi mimicking him. The group watched as two dragons formed out of the water before colliding into each other. Izumi looked on in amazement. There were so many seals to this jutsu, yet Kakashi was able to mimic them all perfectly with his Sharingan.

The two shinobi jumped back, and Izumi watched as Kakashi acted like a mirror image of Zabuza. He was shouting at Kakashi, who was finishing his sentences off for him, and became noticeably more infuriated. With the final seal done, Zabuza was ready to attack, but hesitated as he saw something nobody else did. His hesitation cost him dearly as Kakashi sent a barrage of water at him, pushing him backwards. Izumi fought to keep conscious as she looked at the jutsu used with admiration. The explosion of water sent waves at all of them, and the rest jumped to avoid them, but Izumi's reactions were sluggish. She barely had time to register that a huge wave was coming as it hit her.

Instantly, her world turned black as she was submerged underwater.

* * *

Izumi woke up, extremely disoriented. The last thing she remembered was Kakashi and Zabuza fighting, but there were no sounds of combat now. She cracked open an eye, regretting it almost immediately as the bright light nearly scorched her eye. She shut it quickly as she let out a groan. Her body was aching as if a boulder had rolled all over her and there was something around her head. She clumsily tried to take it off before a firm hand stopped her.

"Guys, she's awake! No, Izumi, don't – stop trying to – no, you need to keep it on!" a feminine voice insisted, fighting to keep whatever was on her head on as Izumi struggled in vain to get it off. She opened her eyes again, slightly annoyed, and met the faces of her three teammates.

"Rise and shine, sleepyhead!" Naruto crowed, his face inches away from hers. Izumi winced.

"Where…?" she mumbled as she sat up. She closed her eyes to fight off the onslaught of dizziness.

"We're at Tazuna-san's house," Sakura explained. "And you really need to keep that bandage on, Izumi, so stop touching it. And…hey! Don't think I don't see you surreptitiously trying to remove it!" Izumi put her hand down guiltily. "You knocked your head pretty hard according to Tsunami-san."

"Tsunami-san?" Izumi blinked at her, not comprehending.

"That's Tazuna-san's daughter and there's Inari, Tsunami-san's son, but he's…" Sakura's voice grew cross. "He's a little…" She clamped her mouth shut before she could say any more.

"He's a snotty little brat, that's what he is," Naruto offered generously, a scowl fixated on his face.

"Naruto!"

"What?" he sighed. "You know you were going to say that, Sakura-chan…"

Sakura glared unconvincingly before sighing. "Yeah, okay…he kind of gets on your nerves because he gets all depressing and tries to bring your mood down because we all suck and apparently the world is a dark, gloomy place and he'd like us to know that, but besides that, he's a good kid. I think."

"You make him sound like great company, Sakura-chan," Naruto snickered. His stomach grumbled and the playful smirk slipped off his face. "Oh, I'm so hungry." He grabbed both Sakura and Sasuke's hands, tugging them up from the ground. He began to run towards the door as Sakura attempted to tug her hand out of Naruto's while Sasuke had more success. He watched from the door with disinterest as the two ran out of the room.

"Naruto! Get off! Okay, Izumi, when you're ready, come down and – I'm serious, you baka! Ow! I told you to get off, not hold my hand tighter! – so anyway, Izumi – OW!" Sakura shouted from the hallway. Izumi heard a series of loud slaps as Naruto yelped. Both Sasuke and Izumi looked unsurprised.

Sasuke turned his head slightly to the side, looking back at her as he spoke quietly. "She means when you're ready, you should-" He cut off his words as he froze. "What is that?"

"What do you mean?" Izumi asked, confused.

He was walking towards her rapidly and he sat down beside her, ignoring her question. He stared at the necklace that Izumi usually wore under her vest, but was now in plain sight on top of the vest before grabbing it. "Who gave this to you?" he snapped, his onyx eyes darkening.

"This?" She fingered the chain. "My brother Makoto did. Why?" He did not answer, his face whiter than usual. "Sasuke? What's wrong?"

"That's the clan symbol of the Uchiha."


	6. Chapter 5: Reunion of White and Black

**A/N: **Hello, everyone. Long time no see. It's been several months since I last updated this; I'm sorry! :( Been busy transitioning to college life and well, it hasn't been the easiest of months...stress, unhappiness, and loneliness has kept me busy as well as schoolwork, of course! I will try to update faster though. I feel incredibly sorry that I've been away from for so long. Anyway, here is chapter 5! And to those of you who celebrate Thanksgiving, I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving and that although it's a day later, you're still feeling extremely full from all the food you ate :)! I'll be sappy and say that I am thankful for all the readers who have stuck with this even though I haven't updated for a while. T^T Thank you so much! Here's chapter 5 for you as a present :D

* * *

**Chapter 5**

His eyes lingered on the emblem before reluctantly rising to meet her startled ones. Izumi cleared her throat. "Sasuke, I'm sorry, but I don't think that's possible. There's no way this has any relation to your family."

"How are you so sure?" he shot back. "There's no way I'm mistaken. This is from my clan."

"Because I've never met anyone from your clan before I met you," she explained patiently. The chain was starting to dig into the back of her neck as Sasuke pulled it towards her, almost as if he wanted to break it off.

"But there's no way you could've gotten your hands on it otherwise. This is the symbol of the Uchiha." His voice was gaining a stubborn edge to it. "You must've met someone. Anyone. Maybe you didn't realize it at the time."

"Sasuke, I really-"

"Just close your eyes and try to think about it," he insisted.

"No."

"You're not even bothering to make an attempt," Sasuke snapped.

Izumi let out a sigh before gently tugging the necklace away from him. It did not budge from his clenched fist and she gave up on trying, afraid of breaking it. "I told you. I got it from Makoto-niichan."

"Then Makoto knows someone," Sasuke said snippily. "Or maybe someone from your family does."

She rubbed at her face, suppressing a grimace. No matter how much she tried, the surname did not ring a bell. "No, I don't think so. Not to my knowledge anyway."

"Then maybe he stole it," Sasuke offered.

She snatched the necklace from his grasp, not caring if the chain broke. Her eyes narrowed. "He would never steal," Izumi replied indignantly. "Least of all something insignificant as this."

"Don't call it insignificant!" he snapped.

"You're only saying that it's significant because you think it's from your family when in reality, this could be some inexpensive charm sold on the street. You would think that if he stole something, it would be something of greater importance than a tiny metal charm. And what use would this serve him?"

"He could have sold it," he replied coldly.

"There would be no need for him to pawn something for money."

"Maybe he lost a lot of money gambling. I don't know. I don't know your brother. I don't know what motives he had."

"If you don't know my brother, then you shouldn't jump to such conclusions so quickly." She was trying to keep her voice even, but a barely perceptible tremble snuck into her words.

"I'm not saying that he did it. I'm not jumping to any conclusions. I'm just saying that it's entirely possible that he just needed money," he said tightly.

"My family has enough money to get by that he would never find himself in such a situation," Izumi replied softly, but her face had hardened as if this was something she would rather have not admitted.

"Are you sure Makoto has never mentioned the name Uchiha to you?"

"I'm telling you, he's never did. Or if he did, I don't remember."

"Then try harder!" Despite his calm visage, Sasuke's frustration leaked through the volume of his voice. She winced, afraid that it would be heard outside the room.

"I did!" Izumi leaned back as Sasuke shifted closer. "It's not like I'm trying to purposely hide something from you about your family. And-"

The door burst open and Naruto stumbled through. "What's going on? We heard your obnoxious voice from all the way in the kitchen. I couldn't eat because your stupid voice was making me upset!"

Sakura stepped in after him hesitantly. "Sasuke-kun, is something wrong?" Her emerald eyes flitted from Izumi to Sasuke, noticing the proximity as well as the tension between the two. "Izumi?"

Naruto seemed to have noticed something and rushed over. "What the hell are you doing?" He grabbed Sasuke and as he shoved the other boy back, Izumi felt a tug on her robe - she noticed that she was wearing unfamiliar clothes that were not hers - as Sasuke's hand, which apparently was clenching her robe without her noticing, let go.

"It isn't anything big." She held up her hands to appease Naruto. "Sasuke was just asking me a question about my necklace. He thought it was something from his clan so he was just curious."

"Which it is," he muttered, undeterred.

"Sasuke-"

"Do you remember Makoto giving it to you at least?" he prodded.

"No. I'm sorry, but I can't remember...I had this since I was little."

Almost expecting Sasuke's face to contort even more due to frustration, Izumi was surprised to see Sasuke look as though he deflated. "Since you were little?" he asked, trying to confirm her statement.

"Yes. I don't even remember when exactly. I was probably too young to remember."

Sasuke looked away, something strange and unfamiliar flitting across his face before. "Well then, that wouldn't be any help. Never mind then," he answered gruffly. He stood up, not bothering to look back as he pushed past Sakura.

"Oi!" Naruto belted out. "You should've at least said sorry!" He attempted to quickly bolt after Sasuke, but Izumi stood up quickly to run after him, grabbing his orange sleeve.

"Oh," she let out, wincing as the blood rushed to her head from the sudden movement. "Naruto-kun, it isn't anything. Don't go after him. He's just feeling disappointed right now. He thought I had something that was important to him, but it turned out to be nothing." She closed her eyes, hoping the room would right itself.

He steadied her, holding her arm. "Alright, alright," he griped as if he lost a great opportunity to rile up Sasuke. She brought up a hand to her head, gingerly grazing the bandage with her fingers. "Izumi-chan, you okay?"

"I'm fine," she said, giving him a wan smile. "It's just the blood rushing to my head."

Sakura snuck in between the two and extended an arm, hooking it around Izumi's as she led her down the hallway. "You'll feel better once you had some food in you," she said firmly. They were nearing the kitchen now, and a lovely aroma reached Izumi's nose. To her delight, judging from the smell, Tsunami-san was a good cook. All three genin eagerly entered and sat down at the small table. Izumi noticed that Sasuke had chosen a seat next to Kakashi to avoid sitting next to or directly in front of her.

"You feeling better, kid?" Tazuna asked gruffly.

"Never better," she said politely.

"Technically, you have been better since most of the time, you're not injured," Naruto interjected, squinting and pointing at her with his chopsticks.

"Don't be such an annoyance, Naruto." Sakura aimed a crumpled napkin ball at Naruto's head.

"Ew, don't be disgusting, Sakura-chan! That has your spit all over it and everything!" Sakura did not look amused. "And anyway, I was just telling the truth." Realizing he still did not meet Sakura's approval, Naruto quickly added, "But once she eats Tsunami-san's wonderful cooking, she'll be better in no time!" He gave Tsunami a foxy grin.

"Suck up," Sasuke snorted into his rice.

"What was that?" Naruto cried.

"Sycophant," Sakura coughed before sipping water.

"W-what's a...oh! Hey! Not you too, Sakura-chan!"

"Brown-noser," Izumi said, clearing her throat before swallowing fish.

Naruto swiveled around to gape at her, appalled that she would betray him. "I-I was sticking up for you!" he spluttered. "And that's how you repay me?"

She did not bother looking up at him. "I don't have to repay you. And anyway, I was just telling the truth."

"And now you're using my words against me! I can't believe this." Naruto shoveled rice into his mouth furiously.

"Someone's eating out their feelings," Sakura snorted before sipping her soup daintily.

"Immoteaggingowmyheehings."

"Clean your mess." Kakashi handed him a napkin as he saw Naruto's crumpled, used one resting against his soup bowl.

"Whatever. I just can't wait to get out and do something fun," Naruto mumbled. "I've been stuck in this house with nothing to do for too long."

"Sorry to burst your bubble," Kakashi replied, "But there won't be much time for having fun."

"What do you mean, sensei?" Sakura inquired.

"I have a feeling that the fight's not over."

"But you _beat_ him, Kakashi-sensei." She frowned as she saw him shake his head. "We _saw_ you beat him," she insisted, as if this proved her point.

"Appearances can be deceiving. In any case, there's something off about our encounter..." he trailed off.

Izumi ducked her head, trying to change the subject. "Can anyone explain what happened after I became unconscious?"

"Kakashi-sensei beat him," Naruto offered simply.

"I already said that. You're not being helpful." Sakura turned to Izumi. "Actually, Kakashi-sensei was able to do a lot of damage, but someone else ended up going in for the kill. It was a hunter nin."

"A hunter nin?"

"It's a shinobi who-"

"I know what a hunter nin is...but it was just something I didn't expect," Izumi interrupted.

"Yeah, we didn't expect it either. He just randomly came out of nowhere, killed Zabuza, and left with him."

Izumi's eyebrows drew together. "He left with Zabuza's body?"

"Yeah, it must have been heavy...that kid was much smaller than him," Naruto interjected.

"But hunter nins..." Her eyes met Kakashi's. "Aren't...aren't hunter nins supposed to dispose of their targets immediately? I may be wrong, but I thought that was the case."

"It is," he affirmed grimly. "And that's why I'm saying there was something strange going on. A hunter nin is supposed to dispose of the body right then and there so that the village's secrets can't be revealed. He just takes the head back as evidence."

"So what you're saying is that Zabuza's not dead," Sasuke said flatly.

"What do you mean?" Sakura exclaimed. She stood up and placed her hands on the table. "Sensei, you checked and he was dead. He had no pulse!"

"The weapon," Sasuke started off slowly. "It's normally used for things like acupuncture. It's easy for a hunter nin to create an illusion that he's dead. He's alive, isn't he?"

"He may or may not be; I don't know the motives behind whoever that person was. But there is a high possibility, yes." He stood up, the chair scraping against the wooden floor. "That's why I'm saying there isn't time to have fun, Naruto. You four need to train. Regardless of whether Zabuza is alive or not, there are still other people employed by Gatou who could come after us at any given moment and I have to teach you a few things so that you can be able to do more damage."

He was making his way out of the kitchen before he paused as if something had struck him. "Or at least escape with the least amount of injuries," he said quietly.

Naruto pouted. "You should have more faith in us."

"It's not about whether I believe in you or not," Kakashi said patiently. "It's that if Gatou is sending out men like Zabuza, it isn't guaranteed that all of us will be able to stay alive let alone escape unscathed. The only way we improve our chances if you four train more...and we'll need to hope that Zabuza was very expensive to hire so Gatou will only have a handful of shinobi of his caliber. We'll be training for several hours each day this week and the next. Prepare yourselves for training."

Seeing the stunned looks on their faces, Kakashi gave them a quick smile. "I'm not expecting you guys to take down Zabuza on your own...I'll be better in no time. We might as well use the little time we have to prepare for what's next."

"But we're genin," Sakura spoke hesitantly. "It's not like we're going to improve our skills exponentially."

"You might think that, but think of what you guys already accomplished. You're improving much rapidly than you give yourselves credit for...especially Naruto."

Seeing Naruto's face glow radiantly with pleasure, Kakashi smiled. "I'll see you four outside when you're done eating."

* * *

Training was, to say the least, grueling. They had to spend several minutes explaining to Naruto what chakra was in their first training session before Kakashi was able to move on to explain what their task was: tree climbing. By the end of the week, only Sakura managed to walk up a tree with ease; in fact, she had accomplished that without breaking a sweat as soon as Kakashi had given his demonstration that she no longer had to stay at the training sessions as long as the others did.

Izumi, Naruto, and Sasuke were often found on the forest floor after their countless number of attempts to climb trees failed, leaving them dirty and irritable by the end of the day. They stayed outside even when the sun had long since set, ignoring Sakura's pleadings, especially Izumi in particular. She had to settle with merely watching her teammates train for the first days while she healed from her injuries.

Izumi craned her neck, gloomily staring at the gash she left in the tree. She frowned, comparing it to the height of the gash Sasuke left in his. It was higher than hers. "I definitely lost a lot of time because of those first two days just sitting and watching," she thought despairingly.

A loud thud startled her out of her reverie. Naruto waved weakly at her. "Hey, 'Zumi-chan," he slurred tiredly.

At least she was ahead of Naruto. She sighed. "I'm never going to get this." She kicked a pebble, furious with herself.

"Yes, you are." Sakura was walking towards them, several objects cradled in her arms. "You guys just need to focus and you'll get it."

"Easy for you to say. You finished hours ago." Izumi sat down wearily. "You have the best chakra control among the four of us."

Sakura allowed herself a tiny smile, happy with the other girl's compliment before replying modestly. "No, it's because I don't have as much stamina as you three. I get tired more easily so I stopped much earlier because I was about to collapse. And here, have some water. You can't become dehydrated." She took one out of her arms and handed it to Izumi before tossing one to Naruto.

"Bah, stop being so modest," Naruto called out from where he was currently sprawled out. He gulped down icy water, some dribbling on his chest as he refused to sit up. "You have great chakra control. I'm jealous."

"But you guys have more stamina. Cheer up!"

"Ne, you gave me that advice too, but I still don't think I get it," Naruto mumbled into the dirt ground.

Sakura wrinkled her nose in disgust. "Ew, get your mouth away from the ground, Naruto. That's not sanitary."

A soft thud next to Naruto announced Sasuke's arrival. He shiftily glanced at the blonde boy, visibly embarrassed as he murmured in a low voice. "Are you still going to refuse to tell me what Sakura told you?" His attempts at having only Naruto hear his words failed as the other two girls looked at him.

Sakura brightened up. "Do you need something, Sasuke-kun?"

"Gah!" Naruto yelled out. "No! No! He doesn't need anything!"

"What are you saying? I just-" Sasuke began to blurt out before realizing everyone's attention was on him. "I-It's..."

Sakura looked at him expectantly. "Yes?"

"Er...do you have any more water left?"

"Yeah, here." She tossed the last bottle to Sasuke who caught it with ease. "Do you need anything else?"

"Um..."

Izumi shook her head. Sasuke would be too embarrassed, too prideful to even ask. She called out to Naruto. "Ne, Naruto-kun..." she asked softly. "Do you think you can share Sakura's advice with me? I still don't really get it..." It was a total lie and Sakura nudged her, confused. Izumi ignored her. The day before, Sakura had explained the process and given her tips while they were helping Tsunami with breakfast.

He sat up, his back straight. "Sure! Well the most important thing is that you need to relax because otherwise, you can't concentrate! So relax and focus on the tree so you can gather chakra at your feet and move up the tree."

"Thanks." Sasuke smirked.

Naruto's face transformed into one of dismay, horrified that he had divulged something that, at least to his knowledge, Sakura had exclusively told him and no one else. "That wasn't for you! I was only telling that to Izumi-chan!"

"Sakura gave me tips last morning, Naruto-kun," Izumi let out a laugh. "I did that because it's not fair if Sasuke's the only one left out." The smile began to fade from her face. "Not that it really matters. I'm still not making any progress."

"Well, you guys can work on it tomorrow," Sakura offered.

"I can work on it now," Izumi stubbornly replied.

"The sun already set an hour ago...you've trained for hours," Sakura pointed out.

"It's not dinnertime yet."

"Izumi, you're going to exhaust yourself if you use too much of your chakra. It really isn't a good idea-"

"I'm going to stay out too." Naruto squinted at Sasuke as if daring him to say he was turning in for the night.

"Idiot. As if I would head in before you."

Sakura sighed exasperatedly. "Well, come back in an hour because dinner will be served then." She swiveled around after taking a few steps, standing with her legs apart and her hands at her hips. "And don't you dare throw up again! That's gross and it's not healthy either!"

"Okay, Sakura-chan! We'll be there around dinnertime," Naruto promised. "And I won't throw up."

"I mean it, one hour!"

"I might be a little late," he wheedled. "Just a little."

"Me too," Sasuke confessed.

"Me three," Izumi piped up.

She gave them all a glare and spoke through gritted teeth. "One hour. Not a second later."

"Fine, one hour," they sighed. There was no reasoning with Haruno Sakura once she wanted things a certain way.

Izumi grimaced. She'd have to wake up earlier than usual tomorrow if she wanted extra practice.

* * *

Izumi's legs wobbled as she swayed, trying to keep her balance while standing on a tree branch. It may have taken her several days to do so, but she was finally near the top of the tree. She had lasted several seconds hanging upside down, her hair streaming around her, billowing in the chilly morning breeze, before she had to get up again.

The sun was still rising and it would be an hour or two before everyone awoke. Izumi gingerly made her way down, sometimes stopping for several seconds to brush her fingers across the scarred trunk, feeling the groove her kunai had made in the trunk earlier. A rush of pride filled her as she did so. She hopped down, rubbing sleep from her eyes as her feet found the ground. She was tired and sleep-deprived, but she was proud nonetheless.

"I should probably rest now so that I can work on staying upside down longer," she thought. She yawned and stretched her arms towards the sky before turning around, looking forlornly at the path behind her. She did not want to start walking back to the house just yet. "Mm...maybe I'll try a little bit more. My body can probably handle it. Just one more time going up before I go back."

Her eyes roamed and searched her surroundings before finding a tree without any scratches on its bark. "Might as well try a new one. I want to see how high I can get on the first try!"

Izumi stepped several paces back before closing her eyes in concentration. The tension ebbed away from her shoulders and she let her mind relax as she focused her attention on her feet and the tree that was somewhere in front of her. Izumi began to run and she felt the world tilting as she rapidly scaled the tree. She opened her eyes, wild exhilaration forcing her to take in deep breaths as she saw how high she was before she took her gaze downwards to look at the ground far beneath her.

Someone was watching her. Startled, Izumi's mind wandered from the task and her feet slipped. She was falling now, her stomach dropping and feeling as though it was floating in midair somewhere, and she reached out for anything to grab ahold of. Her fingers slipped around a large branch and she attempted to skid to a halt by applying chakra to her feet. The bark dug into her skin, piercing it, and she winced, but was relieved to discover that she had stopped the fall. She clung to the tree, staring warily at the feminine figure below her.

"That was close," the stranger remarked.

Izumi made no move to reply, contemplating on what she should do. She was tired, she was weak from training, and she was clinging to a branch like an easy target.

"You might want to come down. You need someone to look at those hands."

A basket was lying on the grass beneath her. It was full of an array of herbs and other assorted plants. No forehead protector was visible on the person's forehead and Izumi reasoned that if this person wanted to harm her, he or she would have done so already. And if the stranger was just waiting for her to jump down and make things easier, it was not as though prolonging the moment would do anything to help her. He could just wait patiently until she ran out of energy.

Izumi reluctantly jumped down and the figure drew closer, swiftly grabbing her hand and ignoring her almost instinctual reaction to tug it away to examine it.

"I'm fine, sir..." The stranger made no movement to indicate that he heard her. "I mean, madam...? Um..."

"I'm a man." His petal-like lips quirked up gracefully in amusement.

Izumi began to tug her hand away again, her ears turning pink. "I'm sorry," she apologized.

He held onto her hand firmly, grimacing. "You might want someone to attend to your hands. I would try to do something for you, but I'm afraid I don't have anything on me that would be of any use."

Her face contorted as she finally managed to look down at her red palms to see splinters sticking up from underneath the surface of her skin. "Oh," she managed to let out, simultaneously appalled and hypnotized by the hideous sight.

"It's not too bad..." he tried to assure her.

"It's better than breaking a bone."

A silence fell between the two of them and Izumi studied the man in front of her. He was breathtakingly beautiful with pale skin, pink lips, and big, clear eyes. His long, silky hair lay gently on his back.

"I may have been mistaken, but were you walking up a tree before?" he asked. Even his voice entranced her.

"Er..." It was not as though she could lie. Something blatantly absurd as walking up a tree could not be mistaken for anything else. "Yes," she finally replied cautiously.

"Ah, so you're a kunoichi..."

"Yes." There was something familiar about this man. But surely, if she had seen someone as beautiful as the man in front of her, she would not have forgotten him?

Something flickered in his eyes before disappearing again. "You must have trained a lot to be able to do something like that," he said almost reverently.

To a person unfamiliar with the shinobi ways, her act must have seemed fascinating. "I...I guess so..." The way he smiled at her unnerved her; it reminded her of something from the past, something that Izumi could not remember. "Are...are you from around here?"

"Well, not exactly. I am originally from an area in the Water Country. And you?"

"From the Village of the Dark Moon."

"Mm...really? I met someone from that village a long time ago. But I don't remember too much of the village itself."

She froze. "Is that so?"

"You strongly resemble her, to be quite honest." He gave her a sweet smile.

"Maybe I know her," she joked stiffly.

"Maybe," he answered ambivalently. "Someone I know was very interested in her as a matter of fact. She was, to put it lightly, somewhat special."

Without knowing why exactly, Zabuza's face flashed in her mind as she recalled the moment they had met. He had reached out for her as if she were an object on a shelf and he were an interested customer. She shut her eyes, trying to remember it as vividly as possible.

Her brothers had been there. Night had fallen and she had been tired when Zabuza arrived. The shadows the candles in the room cast on his bandaged face had terrified her.

And there had been a child with him. He looked to be only a little older than her and his plain clothes could not mask his ethereal beauty.

Izumi had stared in wonder at the boy at Zabuza's side and when Zabuza roughly examined her, he had given her a comforting smile when her terrified eyes met his calm ones.

They must be the same person, that little boy and this young man.

Izumi's heart began to beat wildly against her chest. "I don't recall anyone special in my village."

If he confirmed her suspicions, she was possibly in grave danger. But yet, the fact remained that she was still in front of him, wholly unharmed except for the self-inflicted wounds on her hands.

"Are you sure? I seem to recall that many people knew her..."

"What is her name? She may be a friend," Izumi asked casually. She balled her hands into fists, ignoring the pain as she willed herself to stop trembling.

"Izumi."

"You're Haku," she blurted out. The evidence was circumstantial at best and the fact that he knew her did not actually mean anything, but she voiced her thoughts anyway.

"My suspicions were correct. You are Izumi-san."

She had told him to call her without attaching any suffix to her name when they had met; they were only a few years apart in age and she wanted him to see her as a friend. He had refused politely, insisting on calling her Izumi-san. She drew in a shaky breath. "What do you want, Haku?"

He looked surprised. "I don't want anything. I'm just glad that I bumped into an old friend."

"It's not a coincidence, us meeting here."

"Well, I wasn't purposely trying to find you, but yes, in the grand scheme of things, it was not entirely coincidental. We were bound to run into each other soon."

She stared at him warily. Haku, at least the Haku she knew, was good, but she did not know what effect the years during which they had not seen each other had on him. "What do you want from me?"

"I already answered that question, Izumi-san."

"Zabuza's still alive, isn't he? I should have guessed it was you who came to his rescue."

"Zabuza-san did not need rescuing. He merely needed to withdraw from the fight," Haku replied patiently.

"Why are you still with him?" Izumi asked softly. "I never understood that. Haku, you could have left him long ago."

"I chose not to."

"Why? Why would you choose to do so when all he sees in you is a weapon? That's all...that's all you are to him." Her voice was shaking with indignation and the corners of her eyes stung with unshed tears.

"Yes, but you don't understand, Izumi-san."

"You know that I understand what that's like more than other people." She winced as he reached out towards her, but he merely put a hand on her shoulder.

"I know," he told her gently. "But I'm fighting for Zabuza-san because I'm willing to do so. I am not doing anything against my will. Please do not misunderstand that."

"But you know what he's doing is wrong," she insisted, her eyes wide. "You're a good person, Haku."

"Zabuza-san has his reasons and I am not here to question him, but to help him in any way I can." He squeezed her shoulder lightly. "You must have at least one person you are fighting for, Izumi-san. Someone you believe is worth dying for, even. Someone who is precious to you, who you want to protect to the best of your ability. He is mine."

"If I can't convince you about him, then can I ask you why you are working for Gatou of all people?"

"Sometimes the universe conspires in a way to make you do things you are unwilling to do because they may be the only options available at the time."

"But Gatou is an absolutely foul man! He possesses no heart; he doesn't care for anyone but himself. Haku, if he thinks you two are no longer valuable to him, he'll get rid of you. Don't you understand?"

"I understand the situation perfectly fine. But he underestimates us; we are not to be taken as lightly as he thinks we should be."

"I don't want to fight you," she said reluctantly.

His eyes flickered with curiosity. "Ah, I was wondering about that...I'm quite surprised to find you in the company of Konoha shinobi."

She pulled a face. "It's a long story."

"I imagine it must be, but I'm curious as to how you managed to get the consent of your family. Surely they would have wanted you to join your village's ranks."

"You know that would have never happened."

"No, you know as well as I do that they would not have wanted you to be in the academy, but they would have still wanted you to serve for them despite the uproar it may initially cause."

"It seems as though you're well versed in my village's political and military agenda," she replied wryly.

Haku inclined his head slightly. "Of course. You were once someone who caught Zabuza-san's eye...or to be more accurate, you are still someone who he is interested in. Naturally, I wanted to learn more about you."

"I don't know whether I should be flattered or not," she laughed. The laughter did not reach her eyes.

He gave her a sad, knowing smile in return. "I must say that I am surprised you are not working with us, despite your extreme reluctance to do so. This scheme is something I expected both of us to unwillingly be involved in."

Her eyebrows drew together. "What do you mean? I would never get involved with Gatou."

"I didn't mean Gatou." Haku's face mirrored Izumi's confusion.

"Then what do you mean? Why would I get involved?"

"Are you telling me that you don't know anything about what's going on?"

"What's going on?"

"Gatou's not the only person participating. There are others who are interested in this plan of his," Haku worded carefully. "It seems as though your brothers are somehow involved. I don't mean Makoto-san, of course."

Her lips twitched into a half-smile. "Of course not." She grew serious again. "Why are you working for them?"

"I must."

"Then I'll have to fight you. You do realize that you can't expect me to keep quiet about this encounter."

"Of course not, Izumi-san. That would be betraying your side." He bent down, picking up the basket as he waited for her words.

"Please don't do this."

He lowered his eyes, adjusting the basket so that it settled in the crook of his arm. "That is impossible for you to ask of me. I must go, Izumi-san."

"Don't do this," Izumi pleaded to his retreating back. "Nothing good will come out of it."

"I'm truly sorry..."

She ran, ignoring her tired limbs screaming from the effort. She reached out to grab onto his arm and he turned around, surprised at the touch. "Haku...I know Gatou. After you carry out his orders, he will dispose of you. You may think that he won't because you'll prove your value to him, but you don't understand! He'll just think you're too dangerous to handle or something. There's too much at risk. You can't predict what he's going to do. Please, just...consider it. I-I...I'll try to help out somehow!"

"There is very little you can do."

"Not if you work with me! I'll try to help you guys." She paused and her next words were so quietly spoken that Haku barely heard her. "Zabuza, as much as I hate to admit it, mustn't be completely bad. Not if you trust him and love him. I trust you; you must've found something in him worth fighting for. You keep insisting that it's because being worthless is painful, but he saw that you were useful and that's why you're loyal to him, but I know that's not it. You wouldn't do that for any random stranger, would you? So...so please. I don't know how it'll work, but we can try to work together. Please consider it...please ask him to consider it."

Haku was silent for a moment. "I'll ask him, but there are no promises. He will most likely reject the idea so please don't get your hopes up." He lifted Izumi's hand off of his arm gently and leaned over, genuine concern reflected in his kind eyes.

"There is no need for you to worry so much about us." He reached over, tucking a stray lock of hair behind her ear tenderly, as if she were a child much younger than him. He stared at her for several seconds before straightening up again. "Please stay well and please make sure someone attends to get your hands." His eyes were lowered. "Goodbye, Izumi-san."

She watched as Haku retreated, swiftly and silently as he had arrived. She turned to walk back to the house, so deep in her thoughts that several minutes had passed and before she knew it, she was at the front door. Before she could do anything, the door opened, revealing a surprised Kakashi.

"Oh, you woke up early today," he commented. "We'll start the training session after breakfast although it looks like you got a head start already." He gave her a quizzical look as she remained silent, brooding over the conversation that had occurred only minutes before.

"Kakashi-sensei, you were right," she said slowly, ignoring what he said. "Zabuza's alive. And he has a partner; it's the hunter nin that you all mentioned." She averted her eyes away from his vest pocket to look at him. Rather than appearing triumphant because of her discovery, she appeared crestfallen. "His name is Haku."


	7. What's Happening?

Hi, everyone.

I know it's been a long time since I last updated this fic. It wasn't supposed to happen, but I ended up getting stuck on the next chapter and I was busy with college/life in general. Before I knew it, months passed and well, in just a few more, it'll have been a year since I last updated.

To be quite honest, I don't think anyone is reading this since it's been so long and/or it's possible that no one cares about it anymore, but if anyone _IS_ reading this, I'd like to apologize for my lack of updates as well as thank you for sticking with my story/me. It was a bit unfair to do that to you guys; I know just how frustrating it is when an author seems to vanish into thin air without a warning. You want to know what happened, but the author hasn't left a clue as to whether or not he or she'll even be back on here let alone continue the story.

I didn't want to do that so I decided I had to update you guys on what's going on and I thought it'd be better if I uploaded this rather than silently updating my profile (which most people might not even notice). That way, you'll be alerted that there's an update hehe.

So what is this author's note about exactly other than a bit of rambling apologetic sentiment? There is a point to this.

And here it is: I've reread the chapters I've written and posted on here to shake off those cobwebs and start writing on the next chapter this summer and came to the realization that I'm very dissatisfied with my writing and the way I've written the story so far.

Before you panic, I'm not giving up the story. I repeat, I am **NOT** giving up on this story. What I _am_ doing though is going back and trying to rewrite the past few chapters so that not only will there be a better plot, a better fleshing out of characters, and et cetera, but that it'll be easier to follow/more cohesive as well.

I will be back with an update very, very soon (aka a chapter, not an author's note. Yay!), so I ask you to be a bit more patient with me. Thank you so much for understanding. Hopefully, I won't look back at the edited chapters a few months or years later and be horrified with how I wrote (which tends to happen a lot as I grow as a writer!) lol.

Within the next few days, I will have the edited prologue/first chapter up and this will be moved to my profile.

Again, thank you so much for everything. Thank you for giving this story, Izumi, and me a chance. Thank you for being so patient. Thank you for reading this. Thank you for hopefully understanding. And last but not least, thank you so so so much for brightening up my days with your reviews. They've made my days better...and sometimes I really needed that.

Sincerely,

applesandtea


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